Reporting an issue on social media
If there’s a problem with something you or someone else has posted on social media, or you are worried about anything you see or hear about on these sites, one way to get help is to contact their reporting centres directly. Most sites and platforms have staff who review posts that are reported and decide whether to take them down.
If you’ve seen something that scares, upsets or worries you, there are people you can speak to and get help from. This could be a person you trust at home, at school, or someone from one of the organisations we’ve listed here.
You can find our guide on what to do when you’ve seen upsetting content here.
Some more useful links...
· Thinkuknow provides advice from the National Crime Agency (NCA) on staying safe online
· Parent info is a collaboration between Parentzone and the NCA providing support and guidance for parents from leading experts and organisations
· Childnet offers a toolkit to support parents and carers of children of any age to start discussions about their online life, to set boundaries around online behaviour and technology use, and to find out where to get more help and support
· Internet Matters provides age-specific online safety checklists, guides on how to set parental controls on a range of devices, and a host of practical tips to help children get the most out of their digital world
· London Grid for Learning has support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online, including tips to keep primary aged children safe online
· Net-aware has support for parents and carers from the NSPCC and O2, including a guide to social networks, apps and games
· Let’s Talk About It has advice for parents and carers to keep children safe from online radicalisation
· UK Safer Internet Centre has tips, advice, guides and other resources to help keep children safe online, including parental controls offered by home internet providers and safety tools on social networks and other online services
· support for parents and carers to keep children safe from online harms, includes advice about specific harms such as online child sexual abuse, sexting, and cyberbullying
· support to stay safe online includes security and privacy settings, blocking unsuitable content, and parental control
January Update 2020
Today, we held an internet safety assembly to remind children of the need to be responsible, safe and respectful users of any new tech they were lucky to get for Christmas.
Ask them to tell you about:
Momo – A guide for parents
In light of the recent stories in the news and on social media about the ‘Momo’ character, we would like to offer the following advice.
Speak with your children – let them know that they do not have to deal with any concerns on their own. It is crucial that parents are involved with their children’s online lives. Make children aware of online dangers and ensure they know that they can speak to someone if anything or anyone online causes them concern. Ensure that any devices used by your children are restricted to age suitable content.
The “Momo” challenge has popped up even when these controls are in place so, despite this being great protection in general, there really is no substitution for supervising and monitoring the games that children are playing and the videos that they watch online. Foow these steps below to increase protection:
1. Enable Restricted mode for youtube on any devices at home, laptops, PCs, Smart TVs. Tablets and phones: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/174084
2. Enable filtering on home broadband solutions: all major broadband suppliers have filtering options:
https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-centre/parents-and-carers/parental-controls-offered-your-home-internet-provider
A useful resource is Safer Internet – which includes guides to social media sites, apps, devices and how to talk to young people: It has sections for schools, parents and young people: https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-centre
If adults are concerned or have any questions on how to approach the subject with their children, you can contact the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000 or visit the NSPCC website.
Children who are feeling worried about their activity on apps or online games can contact Childline 24 hours a day, online and over the phone, on 0800 11 11 or by visiting www.childline.org.uk
Safer Settings
If you share a phone or device with your child that you also use for social media, please take the time to check your settings are up to date and secure. You can find out how by following the link below. The site also gives information on apps and sites popular with children, such as Tik Tok / Musical.ly, etc.
Please note, this alone will not ensure your child never encounters inappropriate material online. Talking about their use of technology and monitoring it is so important.
The website below is invaluable to parents! It will tell you all you need to know about new games, apps, movies, etc that your child may have or want. You can then decide if they are suitable.
Church Hill Middle School's current year 8 children produced this booklet last year for parents and older children, to keep them safe online. It will be helpful for you if you want to get tips from the experts!