Children and young people spend a lot of time online – it can be a great way for them to socialise, explore and have fun, but children do also face risks like cyberbullying or seeing content that’s inappropriate. We have collated together some helpful advice and tools you can use to help keep your child safe whenever and wherever they go online.
E-safety has a very high priority at HLC and all students receive advice and guidance appropriate to their age and ‘e-awareness’. Students receive advice about e-safety in their ICT lessons and get more targeted input during assemblies and e-safety sessions.
Being safe is also about teaching youngsters to make the right decisions as they develop independence and start to go out on their own or, to be home alone. The resources and links provided on this page offer advice to parents and carers when dealing with setting boundaries and giving responsibility. Parents may also wish to review the information on the NSPCC website related to e-safety.
HLC encourages children, parents and staff to report concerns about harmful or upsetting content as well as online bullying or abuse. These concerns should be reported to a DSL at the school either directly or via our dedicated email address hlc.safeguarding@lct.education.
However, other reporting mechanisms are also available to children, parents and staff:
- reporting harmful online content to the UK Safer Internet Centre
- getting government advice and trusted resources from Educate Against Hate on safeguarding from radicalisation, building resilience to extremism, and promoting shared values
- get advice on reporting online abuse from the National Crime Agency’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection command
- get advice and support from Anti-Bullying Alliance for children who are being bullied.
The government publication Coronavirus (COVID-19): keeping children safe online - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) also provides information, advice and guidance that may be useful to you.
Websites that you need to check regularly
Guidance on issues children can experience when using the internet
Information for children, young people, parents and carers about staying safe online
Online safety tips, advice and resources to help children and young people stay safe online
Report any concerns regarding child expoitation both online and offline to CEOP
Working with others to help make the internet a safe place for children
Help and advice for families in a digital world
Schools and LAs committed to using technology to enhance teaching & learning
Guides for parents to 39 of the most popular sites, apps and games that young people use
Advice for parents and carers to keep children safe from online radicalisation
We feel it important to point out to parents the risks of social network sites, so have collected some information here for you to look at on how to help keep your child safe online.
Do you know who is following your child on Twitter? Here are some Twitter privacy and safety tips to help keep you and your family safe.
Snapchat
Snapchat can allow anonymous messages and photos to be sent which get deleted after they have been viewed. Snapchat was originally developed for adults and has seen negative press for younger children using it to bully others. This page will give you as parents more information about the app as well as how you can help protect your child if they use it.
For teens, WhatsApp provides an alternative to Facebook and their phone’s native texting app, both of which are likely to be far more familiar to their parents than WhatsApp. Teens are flocking to WhatsApp because it gives them the privacy and freedom to exchange any messages they want with whomever they want. What they may not understand, however, is that WhatsApp also provides the same capabilities to those who would exploit them.
What is Sexting?
Sexting is when someone sends or receives a sexually explicit text, image or video on their mobile phone, usually in a text message. These can be naked pictures, underwear shots, a selfie or rude text. We need to make children aware of the risks and dangers around sexting. Please see below a leaflet written by children for children regarding the dangers of sexting.
PDF Downloads
What is Sexting.pdf
T&W Sexting Letter.pdf
Online Safety Information
The following Online Safety information has been produced by the Telford & Wrekin Safeguarding children board. More information can also be found at: http://www.telfordsafeguardingboard.org.uk
