Internet Safety
The internet is used every day for many different things.
| What should you do if you are worried about something online? 1) Tell an adult, a teacher, or a parent/carer. 2) Next report it. All websites usually have a report button. 3) It is always a good idea to report it to actionfraud.police.uk. You could also call 0300 123 2040. |
| What can you do on the internet? – You can do many things by searching the internet! You might like to use it to play games. Many people use it for social media which is things like Facebook and Instagram. |
Even though it is very useful it can be extremely dangerous.
| About social media… Social media is used to speak to people, and you also have the option to post things such as statuses and photos. BUT you must be very careful with this. Social media over the years has caused cyber bullying. This is when someone is bullied through social networking. This could be someone calling you names. This is why more of these sites on the internet are for people over the age of 13. If you do have a social media Account, make sure your parent knows your password. Also, you should ask them to help you set up privacy settings. This will stop strangers from seeing anything you post. |
| Parents… If your child does have any social media accounts, make sure you have their password and check it regularly. You should also make sure you know what they are doing at all times. If you have any concerns about your child being cyber bullied or speaking to strangers, use the websites: Actionfraud.police.uk Antibullyingpro.com |
Please click on the following link for more information: – Online Safety Act 2023 (legislation.gov.uk)
Information about the apps your child could be using (older children).
Snapchat is an app where you can send videos, photos, and messages to people you have added on your snapchat as a friend. It is important to check your child’s friend list in case they are adding people they do not know. When sending photos and videos these are recorded on the device on the spot, sent to friends who you select to send it to ready for the person to open it and see the video/photo. Once the sent photo/video or even message has been opened and seen by the receiver, it automatically deletes and can’t be seen again. Although it has been discovered that Photos and videos can be screenshotted and screen recorded on devices without the other person knowing this has been done, therefore the other person can keep that photo/video instead of it being deleted straight away. On snapchat it gives you an option to pull the screen down to show a map. This is where you can see what location your friends are at, and your friends can see exactly where you are too. To stop anyone from seeing your location, you can click on your little person that will show up on the map representing you and it will give you an option of “ghost mode” this will allow for your location not to be seen by any of your friends you have on snapchat.
Tik Tok – The new trend dancing and singing app where you can watch other people’s videos who have ‘open’ accounts as well as make your own videos linking it to songs and phrases. There is a large amount of explicit language on some videos that anyone can watch. You can follow friends on this app and like and comment on the videos. It is important to make sure that your children’s account is private and so the only people who can see their videos that they make are their friends that they add. This does not stop them from watching anyone else’s videos that have their account open and therefore it is crucial to keep an eye on what your child is listening to and watching.
Facebook- The app that allows you to post photos, make statuses, message one and another, comment, upload videos as well as view others. Ensure that your profile is private. In the settings it gives you options to manage your profile to control what people can see before they have added you as a friend. To keep children safe, do not allow them to put where they attend school, where they live, and their email and phone numbers to be displayed for everyone to see. Facebook has its own security source which has nothing to do with our police in the area. If there are comments or something on face book that shouldn’t be, there is an option to report it to Facebook and Facebook can block that person for a certain number of days from commenting on anything or Facebook, they will remove the image/video/ comment. It’s extremely hard when reporting comments/statuses/photos or videos for Facebook to recognize it as something that shouldn’t be online. Most of the time it ends up being on Facebook and nothing can be done. If Facebook can’t do anything about it and reporting it is not sufficient for it to be removed, screen shot the evidence and report it to the police/school. When you receive a friend request on Facebook, you have the option to accept or decline. If you do not know this person trying to add your account, there is an option to block that person on their profile. You will not see anything from them, and they will not be able to see your Facebook account or try to re-add you. To also keep your child safe when uploading photos to not state personal information about your child and to also hide their uniform. When using messenger, this can be a separate app, anyone who is not your friend is able to request to send you a message, you still have that block option if a message comes through from someone you do not know or don’t want to hear from. There is also a secret message option which is a completely different file that parents must keep an eye on to see if there are any secret messages being sent or being received.
YouTube- Many videos on YouTube are restricted due to explicit content. There is an option on the settings if opening a YouTube account to make it child friendly, these block out all the videos which could be rude or seen as inappropriate for your children. You are also able to see what type of videos your children are searching for and have searched for in the past just by looking at the search bar that will drop down and show all recent activity. To ensure your child’s account is private this can be done on YouTube settings and so only followers that have been accepted are able to view your child’s videos if they were to upload any.
X box/PlayStation– There are many games and downloads to play on Xbox or PlayStation. Some of these games are violent and use inappropriate language. Please take note of the age restriction on the games it has been put at that specific age to protect children from the adult content that is on the game. When playing certain games, they will be linked online and other people around the world will be able to play that game too. There is no harm in playing the game with an appointment if there is no communication. Your child will be able to speak to these people if they have a headset and listen to what they are saying too. These people could be using threatening or bad language that your child will be able to hear and even respond to. It’s important that your child doesn’t add anyone as a friend on their Xbox/PlayStation that they don’t know; this gives them access to talk to them either through message or through the headset.
Parental controls help you to block or filter upsetting or inappropriate content, and control purchases within apps. You can install parental control software on your child’s and family’s phones or tablets, games consoles, laptops, and your home internet.
Parental controls can help you to:
- Plan what time of day your child can go online and how long for
- Create content filters to block apps that may have inappropriate content.
- Manage the content different family members can see.
- Lots of mobiles, tablets and computers come with settings which help you to manage what your child can and can’t see or do online.
You can: - Check things like location settings and what information your child’s sharing.
- Get more advice about setting up controls on different devices from the UK Safer Internet Centre and mobile providers.