Online Safety
Understanding how and why our children should remain safe online is extremely important in this fast-paced, modern and technical world. Using technology, the Internet and online platforms and devices in a safe, secure and friendly manner is often referred to as 'Online Safety'.
Technology is a crucial part of our lives and learning. Our children will probably use some sort of device or the Internet daily. Using this technology we can connect with the rest of the world and information at rapid speed. Whilst we want to encourage children to use technology, we also want them to remain safe whilst doing so.
At Abbey View children are taught, through lessons such as Computing and Life Skills, that personal information should be kept private and that anything that makes them feel unsafe or uncomfortable should be reported to an adult they trust as soon as possible.
It can be difficult for parents to keep up-to-date with the latest issues in online safety. We try to inform parents of anything relevant via email or on our twitter feed.
Current Online Safety issues in the news
The app musical.ly which allows children to record/live stream themselves singing or playing instruments is reportedly being used by predators. Read about the issue here: Channel 4 News article
Snapchat have introduced a location function which is set to on as a default. Primary children should not have Snapchat accounts, but parents who have older children may wish to read this article: BBC News article
The game Roblox has some safeguarding issues- see this BBC article: BBC News article
The documentary 'Murder Games'- The Life and Death of Brecht Bednar' is an excellent demonstration of how even a very tech savvy teenager can be groomed. It is sometimes available to watch on BBC iPlayer, but the BBC website also has some particularly relevant clips which parents may find useful here: BBC
All you need to know about TikTok
The NSPCC have some great advice for parents regarding E-Safety here: NSPCC and Net-Aware
Advice for parents - top tips for promoting Online Safety
- Encourage your child to close down any app, chat, video or images that upset them or make them uncomfortable, and tell you about it
- Make sure they know that you can never be completely sure who you are talking to when it's being done over the internet
- Don't allow them to use mobile devices or computers with internet connectivity in a room away from you
- Insist on knowing usernames and passwords
- Do not allow them to open social media accounts which usually have an acceptable usage age of 13 (Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat etc)
- Regularly check their mobile devices to see what apps have been downloaded and whether these apps have chat functions, video chat or image sharing functions. If they do, you need to monitor them very closely
- Check their browser history
- Install child security software to limit search functions and filter out some inappropriate material
- Teach your child to look for the privacy settings on every app and website that they install/make an account on. Their privacy settings should be locked down as tightly as possible- especially ensure that any functions which show your child's location or allow strangers to contact them, are switched off