With the amount of scams around and internet fraud on the rise, the BBC, has produced a guide to help you spot and stay safe. Click here to go to the website.
Our school is committed to educating children to create digital citizens who contribute to the online world in a positive and considerate way. Here are some resources and links to websites that may be of interest to you.
You can find some practical guidance for parents and carers whose children are using social media by clicking here.
Facebook is the most popular Social Networking site on the internet. It was launched in 2004 and has an estimated 1.94 billion users. You can find more information about how protect yourself online, how to report issues and how to deactivate your account here.
Instagram is photograph and video sharing application and is particularly popular with children and teenagers. For further guidance of how you can stay safe when using Instagram, how to report any issues or how to deactivate your account click here.
Misical.ly allows users to create, share and discover new videos. It allows users to create short videos of them dancing, performing or lip-syncing to music and share them online via their app. As with other social media sites users can set their profiles to private or public. You can access more information about musical.ly by clicking here.
Snapchat is a messenger app that allows you to send photos, videos, text and drawings. The unique feature of Snapchat is that the message only stays on the recipient’s phone for a matter of seconds. Further guidance on where to find privacy settings, report abuse and deactivate your account can be found here.
Whatsapp is a free messenger app that enables users to send messages, images, video and audio using the internet and is popular amongst children. Further information on how to restrict access to whatsapp can be found here.
Online gaming has changed the gaming world for our children, they can now play against other gamers at any time. This world can be scary for parents who don’t necessarily access these games themselves. Practical advice for parents can be found here.
It is worth noting that games are subject to similar age ratings as films are. The system for rating games is called the PEGI rating, we would encourage you to familiarise yourself with these ratings which can be found here.
Roblox is becoming an increasingly popular gaming site for children & teenagers. This site is a ‘user-generated’ site, meaning all of the games on the site have been created by users themselves. They have produced a parent’s guide with tips for keeping children safe while using Roblox – this is available here.
Minecraft is another site that is hugely popular with children and teenagers alike but do you know your ‘Griefers’ from your ‘Creepers’? The NSPCC has produced a helpful guidance tool to familiarise parents with the different elements of the game and advise how to protect your children when they are playing, this is available here.
There may be occasions where you need to report incidents that happen while online, this could be due to online bullying or another form of abuse. If you need to make a report to CEOP (who are a command of the National Crime Agency) this can be done here:
If you need to report something to a social networking site or a gaming provider, this could be due to inappropriate language being used on a site you can find the contact details of most of the popular social media and gaming providers by clicking here.
Further Support & Guidance
Parent Zone, a not-for-profit organisation, offers Parents information to help understand the digital world and raise resilient children: www.parentzone.org.uk
Parent/Carer support from the UK Safer Internet Centre: https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-centre/parents-and-carers
Childnet, provides information and advice for parents and carer, including a printable sheet available in 12 languages: www.childnet.com/resources/supporting-young-people-online
Want to speak to an expert?
Childline and O2 have teamed up to offer a free helpline for parents for any queries you may have regarding online activity, this could just be simple queries about online gaming or parental controls. The free phone number is 0808 800 5002.