Online Safety Poster
The things I wish my parents had known…about online sexual harassment (Children's Commissioner)
The Children's Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza DBE, has recently published a guidance document for parents helping to support them to understand online sexual harassment. It is a sensitive topic, and not one all parents feel comfortable discussing with their children.
The commissioner's team brought together a group of 16 - 21 year olds and asked them talk about what they think parents should know, and what they should say to their children when talking about sexualised bullying and the pressures of growing up online.
Key advice from the young adults in the focus groups included:
- Start conversations early, before your child gets a phone or social media account. Keep the conversation going over time, adapting to your child.
- Young people want their parents to learn about new technology and trends, including risky behaviours and dangerous spaces online.
- Create a safe and trusting home environment. Young people told us the home environment is key, they want to share things with their parents but don’t always feel able.
The report and poster 'The things I wish my parents had known…' can be downloaded here: https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/report/talking-to-your-child-about-online-sexual-harassment-a-guide-for-parents/
Follow the TALK checklist to help keep your child safe online (Internet Watch Foundation)
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) tells us that 'since the start of the pandemic, the amount of ‘self-generated’ child abuse imagery has increased dramatically. In 2020, the IWF confirmed 68,000 cases of such imagery, a rise of 77% on the year before. It accounts for nearly half (44%) the imagery we took action on last year. In 80% of these cases, the victims were 11- to 13-year-old girls.'
The IWF has created a resource to help parents and carers understand the risks of 'self-generated child sexual abuse imagery' using the acronym 'TALK'.
To find out more, go to: https://talk.iwf.org.uk/
Safer Internet Day 2021
As always we will be celebrating Safer Internet Day this year.
The main goal of Safer Internet Day is to raise awareness and start a conversation about internet safety. It is now celebrated in over 150 countries across the globe and in current times it is even more important that we know how to keep children safe online.
We will be hosting an Online Safety parent coffee afternoon on 9th- an invitation will be sent to parents via Parentmail soon.
Please have a look through the activities shared on this page that you can do with your child at home.
Think You Know Resources
Please find below the PDF documents and worksheets
Safer Internet Day 2020
Tuesday 11th February 2020 is safer internet day. At RHS we will be focusing on how to keep ourselves safe when online during our Computing lessons during that week. We will also be inviting parents in for an e-safety workshop.
In the meantime here are some useful links and advice to keeping safe online:
Online Safety Advice
Childnet Hot Topics - a collection of advice covering topics like screen time, parental controls, digital wellbeing and live streaming - https://www.childnet.com/parents-and-carers/hot-topics
UK Safer Internet Centre advice hub - tailored advice for foster carers, adoptive parents, health care professionals and more - https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-centre
Tackling difficult conversations - advice and resources on how to talk to children and young people about online safety issues - https://www.childnet.com/parents-and-carers/have-a-conversation
Keeping under 5s safe - tailored advice for keeping under 5s safe online - https://www.childnet.com/resources/keeping-under-fives-safe-online
Digital Parenting - a free online magazine offering information and advice on online issues - https://www.vodafone.co.uk/mobile/digital-parenting
Ask About Games - specific advice and online guides about gaming and PEGI age ratings - https://www.askaboutgames.com/
Phone Brain - information about paid for services such as premium rate numbers and in-app purchases - http://www.phonebrain.org.uk/
Get It Right From A Genuine Site - get to know which sites are legal for streaming and downloading films, music & games - https://www.getitrightfromagenuinesite.org/
Keeping up to date
NetAware - online guide and app with advice on popular online services, games and apps - https://www.net-aware.org.uk/
Common Sense Media - online advice and reviews for games, apps, films, books etc - https://www.commonsensemedia.org/
Need more support?
Parents & Carers
NSPCC - providing help and support for adults who are concerned about the safety or wellbeing of a child - 0808 800 5000
O2 & NSPCC - providing help and support with social media, setting up parental controls, privacy settings and much more - 0808 800 5002
Family Lives - providing help and support with all aspects of family life - 0808 800 2222 - For advice - https://www.familylives.org.uk/
Young Minds - providing help and support with young people's mental health and wellbeing - 0808 802 5544 - For advice - https://youngminds.org.uk/
Children & Young People
Childline - providing help and support for under 18s - 0800 11 11 or online - https://www.childline.org.uk/
The Mix - providing help and support for 13-25 year olds - 0808 808 4994 or online - https://www.themix.org.uk/
Step by Step Guides & Checklists
A Parent's Guide to Technology - A set of guides highlighting safety tools on popular devices like games consoles, phones smart TVs and tablets - https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-centre/parents-and-carers/parents-guide-technology
Internet Matters - Step by step guides that will help you put in place parental controls on your home broadband, phone networks and entertainment services - https://www.internetmatters.org/
Childnet Family Agreement - The Childnet Family Agreement provides a framework for setting out expectations for online behaviour and usage - https://www.childnet.com/resources/family-agreement
Safety tools on social networks & other online services - Find out more about the safety features available on popular social networks and apps like YouTube and WhatsApp - https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-centre/social-media-guides
Social networking checklists - A set of guides to help you use safety and privacy features of popular social networking sites such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter - https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-centre/teachers-and-school-staff/teaching-resources/social-media-checklists
How to restrict in-app purchases - Find out how to restrict in-app purchases within app stores like the Apple App Store and Google Play - https://www.childnet.com/parents-and-carers/hot-topics/premium-rate-content-and-in-app-purchases
Digital Safeguarding Advice - Bedfordshire Police
When you access the internet it leaves a digital trail of what you have been doing. Nothing you do online is completely private and has the potential to become open to the public.
If you use any social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram , YouTube etc. the things you are sharing may no longer be just your property, anybody could potentially see it, download it and misuse it.
We not saying don’t post on social media sites, continue doing what you are doing but just be aware when you do use them.
Make sure your accounts are set to private. That way you have some control over who sees your posts, photos or videos. If someone can view your social media activity and you don't want them to see it then you can unfriend, block, unfollow or unsubscribe.
Get familiar with the settings it really will make things you share just that bit safer.
Online Safety Links
Youtube Kids - https://kids.youtube.com
BBC Stay Safe - http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/shows/stay-safe
ThinkUKnow - https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk