Keeping Safe Online
Understanding how to keep safe online is an important aspect of the curriculum at Headlands CE JIN School. We promote online safety in order to help protect our pupils from cyber-bullying, inappropriate sexualised behaviour or exploitation. We have extensive security measures in place in school, which are monitored both internally and externally, to help safeguard our pupils from potential dangers or unsuitable material. Any online safety concerns are investigated and recorded.
Online safety is an important issue in our continuously evolving world of electronic communication. We can only be successful in keeping children safe online if we work with parents to ensure the online safety messaging is consistent. It is important that parents speak to their children about how they can keep safe and behave appropriately online.
Useful Online Safety Resources
CEOP
Childnet
Internet Matters
NSPCC
UK Safer Internet Centre
British Board of Film Classification
Digital Wellbeing
Young people are growing up in a world where technology has always been present for them and this can have both a positive and negative impact on their lives. On the one hand going online can mean being connected to friends, sharing experiences and learning new things but all of these experiences can also pose challenges for young people. With the online world being such a huge part of young people’s lives today, it’s very important that we help them to understand how to use it safely, sensibly and with an awareness of how it can impact on them.
Our overall wellbeing is determined by the physical and emotional experiences we have on a daily basis. As technology continues to be such a huge part of our lives, from the way we represent who we are to the interactions we have with others, it too has an impact on our wellbeing. This is often referred to as your ‘digital wellbeing’ or ‘online wellness.’
It is essentially about having an awareness of how being online can make us feel and looking after ourselves and others when online. This can include recognising the impact being online can have on our emotions, mental wellbeing and even on our physical health and knowing what to do if something goes wrong.
Our digital wellbeing can be influenced by the choices we make online, the content we see, the interactions we have with others and even how long we spend engaging with technology and the internet. Reports have found that those who spend extended amounts of time online are more likely to see upsetting content, receive abusive comments or send abuse to others.
Technology and the internet should be there to enhance and simplify our lives rather than be a cause of distraction, worry or upset. However, not all online experiences are positive for young people and this can have a negative impact on how they feel about themselves, their friendships and relationships and even how they see the wider world.
GOV.UK: Support for Parents & Carers
While there are huge benefits to being online to stay connected to family and friends during this period, the government recognises many parents feel concerned about the activities and content their children are accessing. This guidance outlines resources to help keep children safe from different risks online and where to go to get support and advice.
It is important to have regular conversations about staying safe online and to encourage children to speak to you if they come across something worrying online.
Talk to your child about the importance of creating a safe online environment, including keeping any log-in details and passwords safe.
These resources will support you to talk to your child about a range of online safety issues, set up home filtering in a child-friendly way and set up age-appropriate parental controls on digital devices:
TikTok: A Parents' Guide
TikTok is a video-sharing app. Users can upload and share short videos of themselves lip-syncing to songs or acting out comedy sketches, and add special effects. They can gain followers (‘fans’) and browse other people’s videos.
You may have heard of the app by its previous name: Musical.ly. Everything that was on Musical.ly is now on TikTok. If your child previously had a Musical.ly account they will be able to access their content on TikTok.
The age recommendation is 13 and above. However, you don’t have to prove your age when creating an account, so younger children can still use it easily. It’s most popular with under-16s.
TikTok is free to download on Android and iOS devices (Apple phones and tablets). It carries ads and offers in-app purchases. It has about 150 million active users worldwide and is available in over 30 languages.
What are the concerns?
On the surface, nothing. TikTok has a reputation for being unusually free of trolling and danger.
But you may have seen news reports or heard concerns about some users harassing children for nude images and videos.
What should I look out for?
- User profiles which talk about ‘trading’ or swapping pictures/videos
- Use of emojis that are commonly considered to be sexually suggestive (such as the aubergine)
- Hashtags, such as #tradefortrade, which clearly suggest the user is looking to trade illicit content
- The lyrical content of some songs – parents have raised concerns that it’s not always age-appropriate
Users cannot exchange images and videos via in-app messaging, but once they’ve made contact they move on to another platform to trade, such as Snapchat.
TikTok has taken steps to remove users who it suspects are soliciting underage users. However, there are still many suggestive profiles and TikTok has committed to almost doubling the number of content moderators it employs to 10,000 to address this.
What safety options are available to parents?
Control who can view your child’s videos: Set your child’s account to ‘private’ so that your child can control who sees their videos or keep them completely private. Your child will be able to approve or deny people as ‘fans’, and will only be able to accept messages from followers. Remember:
- Accounts are set to ‘public’ by default. Public profiles can be viewed by anyone
- Even with a private account, your child’s profile information can be seen by all users. Make sure your child doesn’t reveal personal information on their public profile
Restrict how your child uses the app
Use TikTok’s digital wellbeing feature to control the time your child spends on the app and limit the appearance of content that may not be appropriate.
Most devices also allow you to set time limits on game play, set age limits for content, and restrict in-app purchases. Check the user instructions for your child’s device.
Make sure your child knows how to report inappropriate behaviour.
Your child can use the app to report content that makes them feel uncomfortable, including accounts, videos, comments and chats. You can too.
You or your child can also block ‘fans’ or followers at any time.
What else can I do?
- Read more about privacy and safety on TikTok here.
- Download and use the app to help you understand it
- Talk to your child about what they’re doing online, and make sure they know they can talk to you about anything that upsets them
- Check your bank statements regularly for in-app purchases you’re not happy with, and to make sure your child isn’t getting around any passwords you’ve set up
- Non-profit organisation Internet Matters has put together 5 top tips to manage children’s screen time, which you can read here.
- The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) has advice and resources for parents on online safety.
- The NSPCC has also teamed up with O2 to offer advice to parents on setting up parental controls, privacy settings, etc. Call the free helpline on 0808 800 5002, or book an appointment with an ‘O2 Guru’ in an O2 store here.
YouTube: A Parents' Guide
You may have seen news reports about inappropriate children’s videos on YouTube. These are videos that, at first, appear to be for children, as they include cartoon characters such as Peppa Pig, or characters from Disney films such as Frozen. However, later on the videos become violent or disturbing. One, for example, shows Peppa Pig being tortured at the dentist.
The videos can appear in YouTube search results when children look for genuine children’s videos.
YouTube says that such videos will be age-restricted if they are reported by users, so they cannot be viewed by anyone under 18.
What safety options are there on YouTube Kids?
The YouTube Kids app automatically filters out inappropriate content. However, YouTube explains that “no algorithm is perfect” and “your child might find content you don’t want him or her to watch”.
To help protect your child in YouTube Kids, you can set parental controls and change settings: tap the ‘Lock’ icon in the bottom corner of any page, enter your custom passcode and click ‘Settings’. Here you can:
• Turn the search function off, so your child can only see recommended, curated videos under each category on the home screen: toggle ‘Search’ to off
• Set a timer to limit how much time your child spends on the app: select ‘Timer’ and use the slider bar or the plus and minus icons to set a time limit, then tap ‘Start Timer’
You can also block videos or channels you don’t want your child to watch:
- Tap the 3 dots (‘more’) at the top of the video, tap ‘Block’ and select ‘Block this video’ or ‘Block this channel’ to block the whole channel associated with the video
- Tap ‘Block’ again, then enter the numbers you see written on the screen, or your custom passcode
To report content to YouTube that you think is inappropriate, use the ‘flagging function’: tap the flag icon next to a video or comment and select your reason for flagging.
The app does have advertising, but YouTube says it restricts adverts that aren’t child-friendly.
What safety options are there on YouTube?
Turn on ‘restricted mode’. This hides videos that may contain inappropriate content. YouTube says that “no filter is 100% accurate, but it should help you avoid most inappropriate content”. To do this:
- On the website: click on the icon in the top-right corner that represents your YouTube account; in the drop-down menu look for ‘Restricted Mode’
- In the app: tap Settings, then ‘Restricted Mode Filtering’, and turn it on
You can also flag inappropriate videos. If you think a video or a comment on a video is inappropriate, you can use the ‘flagging feature’ to prompt YouTube staff to check it and decide whether to block or restrict it. Flagged content is constantly reviewed to check for any violation of YouTube’s Community Guidelines. To flag a video:
- Tap or click the flag icon next to a video or comment and select the reason for flagging
How else can I help ensure my child’s safety on YouTube?
The tips below will help you to set rules for your child about accessing videos on the internet and their online behaviour, and support them to understand the risks and what to do if something happens.
- Try to have your child in the same room as you when they are using the internet, and discourage them from using headphones
- Chat to your child about what online videos might not be suitable for them to watch and share
- Regularly check the history of videos they have watched online for anything inappropriate, or create a playlist for them
- Encourage your child to tell you if they see something they find worrying or nasty
- If your child wants to share a video they have recorded, check they get permission from anyone who features in it before they upload it
- Tell your child not to give out any personal information or anything that can identify them, such as a school uniform or street name
- Regularly check comments made on your child’s videos. Talk to your child about how they could receive nasty or negative comments from other people, and what they should do if this happens
- If another YouTube user posts a video of your child or shares personal information without consent, you can ask for this content to be removed by using YouTube’s privacy complaint process
Fortnite: A Parents' Guide
The multiplayer action survival game, Fortnite: Battle Royale, has received a lot of media coverage recently due to growing popularity amongst children – and also emerging safety concerns. We’ve pulled together some information about the game and how to keep your children safe while playing it.
Players can currently play Fortnite: Battle Royale on a PC, Mac, Xbox, and PlayStation or download it from the App Store. Use of the game has grown rapidly amongst children and young people since the launch of the mobile game in March 2018. As of 2nd May, the app version is only available on iOS but an Android release is expected shortly. The game involves 100 players fighting each other in real time to be the final survivor.
What features and risks are there on Fortnite?
Fortnite: Battle Royale has several features that can be fun, but there are also risks. These include:
- Players can add friends in the mobile game if they have an account with Epic, the game’s developer. Friends can be added by username in the game’s main menu.
- There is a chat feature in the game that allows users to contact each other using voice or text. You can disable voice chat in the game by selecting the 3 lines in the top right of the screen, select the settings icon, choose the ‘Audio’ tab at the top of the screen and go to the ‘Voice Chat’ option, where you can select ‘Off’.
- There is cartoon violence in the game. You can use a variety of weapons to kill other players, such as guns and axes.
- There are in-app purchases, which can become expensive.
- Players can be reported to the Player Support team if you are concerned about activity or behaviour.
Age ratings
Here are the recommended age ratings for the game:
- Epic Games: Fortnite Battle Royale says it does not direct the game to children under the age of 13 in the UK.
- The PEGI rating for this game is 12 years old. However, PEGI does not take chat features into consideration when rating games. You can find out more about age ratings here.
- The App Store says that users must be 12+ to play.
Snapchat "Snap Maps": Safety Awareness
SnapChat’s “SnapMaps” allows users to see the location of their contacts. This feature allows others to accurately pinpoint where you are. Remember a child sharing their location can be a very risky thing to do.
Please be aware that the minimum age requirement for SnapChat users is 13.
There are three possible privacy settings on SnapChat:
- Ghost mode, where only you can see your position;
- My Friends mode, where any contact can see your location; and
- Select Friends mode, just those who you choose can see you