Safety on the Internet

The BBC have created a website and an app for children to support their digital wellbeing. It will provide a helping hand to your child, showing them how to make smarter and better informed choices and helping them grow into confident, positive and happy digital citizens. Using a combination of self-reporting and ‘machine learning’, the app builds up a picture of your child’s digital wellbeing and serves relevant information designed to help your child understand the impact that their online behaviours can have on themselves, and on others, helping them to develop healthy online habits and behaviours, and also encouraging your child to have conversations with you when they are feeling sad or worried. For more information click on the image or title, or you can watch a video about how it works here.

Childnet has an article on their website about the age restrictions of different social media apps and websites. Click on the image or title to find out more.

The latest report (January 2018) from the Children's commissioner for England, filling a gap in research on younger children's use of social media platforms, warns that children are unprepared for a social media 'cliff edge' as they start secondary school. Click on the image or title to visit the website for more information.

This report from the Children's Commissioner on 'Growing up Digital' (published January 2017) contains many interesting (and shocking) findings about how children and young people use and perceive the internet, and recommendations for better equipping children and young people to use the internet critically and with a greater awareness of how it works, for example how their information can be shared. Click on the image or title to visit the website for more information.

LawStuff gives free legal information to young people. It is run by Coram Children's Legal Centre. They include a page on the legalities of sexting. Click on the image or title to visit the website for more information.

The NSPCC regularly produces a 'How safe are our children?' report which you may like to read. Click on the image or title to visit the website.

Safety Net is a campaign to get Internet service providers to block pornography at network level whilst giving adults a choice to 'opt-in' to this content. Click on the image or title to visit the website for more information.

The Educational Policy Institute have publised a report into Social Media and Children's Mental Health. They outline the benefits, risks and policy implications. Click on the image or title to visit the website for more information.

This Seriously Awkward resource pack from the Children's Society is comprised of six sessions designed for youth workers working with 11-16 year olds. Session 4 focuses on 'Life online' and has interesting icebreaker and discussion activities to work through with young people including online grooming and sexting. Download it for free by clicking on the image or title. You can also find out more about the Children's Society's initiatives around keeping children safe online here.

The Naked Truth Project aims to tackle pornography and has some useful advice for parents and carers, including practical help on installing filters on computers and phones. Click on the image or title to visit the website for more information.

The UK Safer Internet Centre (UKSIC) provides support and services to children and young people, adults facing online harms, and professionals working with children. Formed of three charities: Childnet, Internet Watch Foundation and SWGfL, they work together to identify threats and harms online and then create and deliver critical advice, resources, education and interventions that help keep children and young people, and adults, safe. They offer good advice to parents on how to set filters on your home internet to stop inappropriate content being accessed. They also have advice for schools on developing an e-safety policy, lesson plans, and running e-safety sessions. Click on the image or title to visit the website for more information.