Online Safety
At Sacred Heart our children follow the Be Internet Legends (Google) and Project Evolve schemes when learning about keeping ourselves safe online. They are fun, engaging and informative ways of learning about how we can keep ourselves protected when online All the children have opportunities within our curriculum to learn about the dangers of the internet such as phishing, security and our online persona’s. However, we also understand that the internet is a great tool when used safely and want our children to know this too!
While there are huge benefits to being online we recognise that many parents feel concerned about the activities and content their children are accessing. Please click here or the links below to access the Government guidance, which outlines resources to help keep children safe from different risks online and where to go to get support and advice.
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These resources will support you to talk to your child about a range of online safety issues, set up home filtering in a child-friendly way and set up age-appropriate parental controls on digital devices:
- Thinkuknowby the National Crime Agency - Child Exploitation and Online Protection command (NCA-CEOP) - resources for parents and carers and children of all ages to help keep children safe online
- Childnethas developed guidance for parents and carers to begin a conversation about online safety, as well as guidance on keeping under-fives safe online
- Parent Infois a collaboration between Parent Zone and NCA-CEOP - support and guidance for parents and carers related to the digital world from leading experts and organisations
- National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) - guidance for parents and carersto help keep children safe online
- UK Safer Internet Centre- tips and advice for parents and carers to keep children safe online - you can also report any harmful content found online through the UK Safer Internet Centre
- Inclusive Digital Safety Huband Online Safety Hub, created by South West Grid for Learning in partnership with Internet Matters - support and tailored advice for young people with additional learning needs and their parents or carers
- Parents’ Guide to Age Ratings explains how the British Board of Film Classification rates content, and gives parents advice on choosing online content well
What harms might my child experience online?
You may have concerns about specific harms which children can experience online. There are more resources to help you understand and protect your child from these, including:
- child sexual abuse – a definition
- child criminal exploitation – a definition
- exposure to radicalising content
- youth-produced sexual imagery (‘sexting’)
- cyberbullying
- exposure to age-inappropriate content, such as pornography
- exposure to harmful content, such as suicide content
For more information, guidance or support please click the link below.
Age-inappropriate content and parental controls
If you have downloaded new apps or bought new technology to help stay connected at this time, remember to review and adjust privacy and safety settings if you or your child is signing up to a new online service.
- Internet Matters has step-by-step guideson how to set up parental controls so that you can control what content your child can access online
- the UK Safer Internet Centrehas guidance on how to switch on family-friendly filters to prevent age-inappropriate content being accessed on devices in your home
- the NSPCChas more information for parents or carers with concerns about their child seeking inappropriate or explicit content online
Apps to help children stay safe online
The BBC has a website and app called Own It. The website helps children navigate their online lives, and the free smartphone app comes with a special keyboard which can intervene with help and support in the moments that children need it the most. It can be downloaded for free in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
SafeToNet is an app for parents to help them protect their children from online risks like cyberbullying and sexting, while respecting their child’s rights to privacy. The SafeToNet Foundation is providing UK families with free-for-life access to SafeToNet during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Use the links below to learn more about how to keep your child safe when using technology.
- https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/hopwood/UploadedDocument/42e183589c9c40558592588f8e9b768f/goldilocks-single-pages.pdf
- https://nationalonlinesafety.com/
- https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/
- https://saferinternet.org.uk/guide-and-resource/parents-and-carers
- https://www.internetmatters.org/
Internet Matters have created Online Safety Tips for Parents of 0-5 year olds, 6-10 year olds and 11-13 year olds, and also age-relevant Screen Time guidance for Parents. Please see below for more information:
Internet Matters have a whole range of topics and resources related to cyber safety issues such as phishing and ransomware, privacy and identity theft, doxxing and more. This is expert advice on how to keep families safe online. You can view the resources here: https://www.internetmatters.
Also from Internet Matters and very useful for parents is an interactive guide to creating secure accounts, e.g strong passwords and two-factor authentication. You can access this here: https://www.internetmatters.
It is easy for any person, any age, to stumble across inappropriate and explicit content online and for parents this can be challenging. Internet Matters have a range of resources available to help parents including:
* Tips and tools for website/content filtering.
* What to do if your child sees explicit content.
* Resources for further help and support.
You can see all the sections here:
Impact of Current World Events on Children