Keeping our children safe online is challenge as the Internet, gaming and social media are all rapidly changing platforms. In school our pupils can only go online on school iPads and laptops which have a high level of filtering but outside of school we know many of them have devices on which they could access inappropriate or harmful content, be cyber-bullied or be contacted by people who pose a safeguarding risk. We hope that the following links will help you to keep your child safe online.
Online safety guidance for parents
Internet Matters (a one-stop-shop for parents: online issues, advice by age, setting controls, guides and resources.
Digital Matters – a resource for parents and teachers
Childnet (includes guidance in different languages)
CEOP – The team is a part of the National Crime Agency and we run an education programme which provides training, resources and information for children and young people aged 4 – 18, their families and professionals who work with them.
National Cyber Security Centre
Reviewing apps and games
Family Gaming Database parents and guardians navigate the world of gaming.
Common Sense Media gives ratings and reviews on books, games, films, TV, podcasts and Apps.
A guide to Apps children use and learn about different apps to support children’s wellbeing, skill-building and downtime.
Ask About Games supports parents and families to navigate the world of video games safely, by sharing top tips, expert knowledge, and answering questions all about video games.
Reporting a problem
Report Harmful Content A national reporting centre (run by the UK Safer Internet Centre) for harmful content online
Internet Watch Foundation (UK Hotline) for reporting illegal content online – child sexual abuse images,
How to report suspicious emails (NCSC) report@phishing.gov.uk
Report remove tool for nude images (under 18)
Take It Down – tool to proactively hash nude images
Cybersecurity – NCSC
Check a website is an easy-to-use online tool which helps you to determine whether a website is likely to be legitimate or a scam … before you visit it.
Younger children
Child friendly search engines https://www.kids-search.com/ and https://swiggle.org.uk/
Story books: Old Macdonald had a phone, Troll Stinks, Clicking Chicken and #Goldilocks
AI
A parent’s guide to AI and UNICEF report.
AI https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/frontier-ai-capabilities-and-risks-discussion-paper
YouTube
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/myfamily/
YouTube – supervised experience
Roblox
https://corp.roblox.com/parents
TikTok
https://support.tiktok.com/en/safety-hc/account-and-user-safety/user-safety
https://familycenter.instagram.com/dashboard/
https://www.internetmatters.org/parental-controls/social-media/instagram/
Snapchat
https://snap.com/en-GB/safety/family-center
https://www.internetmatters.org/parental-controls/social-media/snapchat/
https://values.snap.com/en-GB/news/introducing-content-controls-on-family-center
Resources for children with SEND
THRIVE from Childnet https://www.childnet.com/what-we-do/our-projects/thrive-online/
Internet Matters – inclusive digital safety https://www.internetmatters.org/inclusive-digital-safety/
Changing conversations https://www.internetmatters.org/resources/changing-conversationsempowering-vulnerable-children-digital-world/
Parental controls
Schools Mobile https://schoolsmobile.com and https://www.internetmatters.org/parental-controls
VR – https://about.fb.com/news/2022/03/vr-parental-supervision-tools-on-quest/
Parental controls for Kindle https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GG2LBLF5V2T8XUX8
Why do parents and carers need to know about VPNs?
A virtual private network (VPN) gives you online privacy and anonymity by creating a private network from a public internet connection. For example, this means you can bank securely. VPNs are not difficult to install and use, and there are many apps that can offer this service. Like many things, VPNs can be used for a good…and for bad.
Children can circumnavigate their parental controls via VPN’s. There are VPN apps that can be downloaded that allow children to have a virtual private network. This allows them to access unsuitable sites and due to the fact that the VPN can make it look like you are in another time zone they can be accessed at anytime of the day. When children have been questioned as to how they found out about VPN’s they have said it’s either by word of mouth from their peers or it has popped up whilst watching YouTube.’
Other useful resources and research:
Girl Guiding – Girls’ attitudes survey https://www.girlguiding.org.uk/girls-making-change/girlsattitudes-survey
Children’s Commissioner – Young people and pornography https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/report/a-lot-of-it-is-actually-just-abuse-young-peopleand-pornography and https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/resource/pornography-andharmful- sexual-behaviour/
https://5rightsfoundation.com/in-action/new-research-shows-children-directly-targeted-withgraphic-content-within-as-little-as-24-hours-of-creating-an-online-social-media-account.html
Revealing reality – cleaning up in the attention economy – research into moderators’ experiences https://www.revealingreality.co.uk/2022/11/17/moderators-are-miserable-but-are-they-the-onlyones-getting-harmed/
Ofcom research – children’s online user ages https://www.ofcom.org.uk/news-centre/2022/a-thirdof-children-have-false-social-media-age-of-18
Ofcom children’s media use and attitudes 2023 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-anddata/media-literacy-research/childrens/children-and-parents-media-use-and-attitudes-report-2023
Children’s Commissioner – Digital Childhoods – A survey of children and parents (Sept 2022) https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/report/digital-childhoods-a-survey-of-children-andparents/
SID 2023 – making space for conversations about life online https://saferinternet.org.uk/saferinternet-day/safer-internet-day-2023/research
Over 100 research summaries from the UKCIS evidence group http://www.saferinternet.org.uk/research
deShame – http://www.childnet.com/our-projects/project-deshame/research (young people’sexperience of sexual harassment online)
Not just flirting https://www.revealingreality.co.uk/2022/06/23/not-just-flirting/
Preventable yet pervasive (research from Molly Rose Foundation) https://mollyrosefoundation.org/resources/online-safety
5 Rights https://twisted-toys.com/
Age appropriate design code (ICO)
https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/key-data-protectionthemes/age-appropriate-design-a-code-of-practice-for-online-services-2-1.pdf
Government scheme of work/curriculum for online safety – Education for a connected world https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/education-for-aconnected-world
Online safety bill https://www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safety/illegal-and-harmful-content/roadmap-to-regulation
Safer Internet Day 2024 support for parents/carers https://saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/safer-internet-day-2024/parents-and-carers
