Online Safety Safeguarding

Online Safety

The internet and ever emerging technologies have changed our lives drastically. As parents and carers, there is a whole new world of possibility and also of risk to be aware of. Keeping your children safe is a huge responsibility, to help you be the very best parents you can be here are some simple things you can do to keep up with what your child is doing online and ensure that they are keeping themselves safe.

TOP TIPS     

Talk to your child about what they’re up to online. Be a part of their online life; involve the whole family and show an interest. Find out what sites they visit and what they love about them, if they know you understand they are more likely to come to you if they have any problems. 

• Watch Thinkuknow films and cartoons with your child. The Thinkuknow site has films, games and advice for children from five all the way to 16.        
• Encourage your child to go online and explore! There is a wealth of age-appropriate sites online for your children.
• Encourage them to use sites which are fun, educational and that will help them to develop online skills.          
• Keep up-to-date with your child’s development online. Children grow up fast and they will be growing in confidence and learning new skills daily. It’s important that as your child learns more, so do you.           
• Set boundaries in the online world just as you would in the real world. Think about what they might see, what they share, who they talk to and how long they spend online. It is important to discuss boundaries at a young age to develop the tools and skills children need to enjoy their time online.     
• Keep all equipment that connects to the internet in a family space. For children of this age, it is important to keep internet use in family areas so you can see the sites your child is using and be there for them if they stumble across something they don’t want to see.    
• Know what connects to the internet and how. Nowadays even the TV connects to the internet. Make sure you’re aware of which devices that your child uses connect to the internet, such as their phone or games console. Also, find out how they are accessing the internet – is it your connection, or a neighbour’s wifi? This will affect whether the safety setting you set are being applied.       
• Use parental controls on devices that link to the internet, such as the TV, laptops, computers, games consoles and mobile phones. Parental controls are not just about locking and blocking, they are a tool to help you set appropriate boundaries as your child grows and develops. They are not the answer to your child’s online safety, but they are a good start and they are not as difficult to install as you might think. Service providers are working hard to make them simple, effective and user friendly. Click here to find your service provider and learn how to set your controls.

This NSPCC link provides excellent information on the age restrictions and expert guidance on the risk of apps and websites children may be using.

Caught in the Web

Caught in the Web is a Newsround special programme all about staying safe on the internet. The show, which is voiced by David Tennant, tells the story of a girl called Lost Princess, who gets into danger after meeting someone in a chatroom. It also has many tips on how to be safe, and case studies of children with real-life experiences of how things can go wrong:

Video link:  Internet safety: Caught in the Web - a Newsround Special - BBC Newsround

Simon Aston, the Online Safety and Wellbeing officer for Northamptonshire County Council.

Please find a link below for Simon's youtube channel 

Follow Simon's Twitter Account to keep up to date with all matters of online saftey - @NCCcybersafe

Follow the National Online Safety twitter account - @natonlinesafety or joining their website for lots more updates - see below for details.

Here are more links to help you to keep your child safe online:

Support for Parents and Carers

TIKTOK: NCC and Simon Aston (our children know Simon – he works in school on Internet Safety & has run workshops for parents)  now have a YouTube channel advising parents and carers on how to safeguard young people on the popular social media app, TikTok:    

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr5c5Z1muQM&feature=youtu.be

INTERNET MATTERS: Great advice for parents and carers ranging from school closures to online safety:   https://www.internetmatters.org/

Google Classroom – Online safety resources

Simon Aston (Northampton’s Online Safety and Well-Being Officer) has placed a number of online safety and wellbeing resources on Google classroom.  The resources are aimed at parents, professionals and schools. Simon has done 3 videos to go with the resources. In order to access the resources, you can download the Google classroom app or access them via the internet. You will need a code to access the resources which is: g7rey75

There is also advice for young people, resilience information and how to keep safe online during this difficult time.

ThinkUKnow is the national online safety education programme from CEOP, the online child protection command of the National Crime Agency. They produce some great material which we use to teach online safety at school and they have developed weekly home activity packs for each age group to keep those important online safety conversations going at home. Click on the link below to access the home activity worksheets for your child:

​4-5s

5-7s

8-11s

We also want to draw your attention to their Parent Info article which signposts what to do and where to report if you see something online which concerns you:

https://parentinfo.org/article/child-online-safety-during-lockdown-where-to-report

Lastly, there is some advice for families on mental health and wellbeing if you are concerned about the impact COVID -19 is having on your child(ren):

Surviving family life under lockdown

Where can your child get online mental health help during lockdown