E-Safety Advice for Parents and Carers
The internet is a fantastic resource that enables us to connect, communicate and be creative in a number of different ways and on a range of devices but it is always changing and keeping up to date with your child's use of technology can be a challenge. Children need advice and protection when it comes to managing their online usage and there are a range of organisations to support with this.
In school the children learn about E-Safety as part of our PSHCE and Computing curriculum. We also celebrate 'Safer Internet Day' each year with whole school and class activities. In addition to this, we aim to work in partnership with our parents and carers to ensure that the safe and responsible use of technology is transferred from school to home.
The aim of this page is to give parents and carers access to advice and resources to help you at home to ensure that you feel confident in supporting and protecting your children.
What can I do to keep my child safe online?
Click the images below to be taken to useful websites and resources.
UK Safer Internet Centre
UKSIC have a range of information for parents and carers on highlighting the issues of internet, how to have a conversation with your child about staying safe online, safety tools on social networks, parental controls offered by internet providers, guides to technology and resources.
NSPCC
NSPCC in partnership with O2, provides useful information for parents about the most popular and current sites, apps and games used by children. The free tool, called Net Aware is updated regularly. In addition, each site/app/game has free advice from O2 on how the privacy settings work for that particular platform.
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Childnet
Childnet has a range of information to support parents and carers in helping to keep their child safe online. This includes advice on parental controls, hot topics, toolkits, family agreements, guides on how to have a conversation about online safety, how to report harmful content.
ThinkUKnow
Thinkuknow has helpful advice and tools that parents and carers can use to help keep their child safe online. They have downloadable guides on various social media sites and they also have some useful films for parents to watch about the risks online as well as advice as to what to do if you are concerned about your child or wish to report something that has happened.
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Internet Matters
Internet Matters gives parents and carers expert support and practical tips to help children benefit from connected technology and the internet safely and smartly. From age-specific online safety checklists to guides on how to set parental controls on a range of devices, you’ll find a host of practical tips to help children get the most out of their digital world.
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NYSCP
The North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Partnership website contains online safety guidance including this useful page on 'Games consoles, smart devices and how to keep your children safe' . It contains top tips for keeping your children safe online including advice on privacy settings and parental controls.
Get Safe Online
Get Safe Online provides in-depth information and advice about online safety issues. It includes dedicated advice about children's gaming as well as information on how to protect yourself, your computers and mobiles devices against fraud, identity theft, viruses and many other problems encountered online.
BBC Own It
The BBC's Own It platform is specifically designed to protect and support children using the internet. It gives lots of easy to understand information and advice for KS2 children to help them successfully navigate and control their online life. It also contains a useful parent toolkit.
Worried about your child?
Use this link to CEOP to enable you to report to the police if someone has done something online that has made you or your child feel worried or unsafe.
Roblox
Roblox is a popular online game-creating system where children create and publish games and play other users’ games. It is relatively easy for children to see content that isn’t age-appropriate. Strangers can contact children – there have been recent news articles about grooming via Roblox. Children can easily lose a large amount of real-world money. Be aware of conversations about Roblox, and remind pupils to be careful when talking to strangers online.
These links are useful and provide additional information
https://www.childnet.com/blog/roblox-a-guide-for-parents
https://www.internetmatters.org/blog/parental-controls/gaming-consoles/roblox-parental-controls/
TikTok
TIK TOK and 13+ Apps
In our fast, changing world, children are spending increasing amounts of time online. Carefully managed, there are many positives about the skills children can learn while using the internet, but we are increasingly concerned in school that some children report being online after 9pm and many have access to Apps that are designed to be used only by age 13+.
We have noticed an increasing number of children are coming into school overtired during the week, unable to concentrate. Through discussions, it has become clear that a common reason for this is due to time spent on digital devices and gaming.
From age-specific online safety checklists to guides on how to set parental controls on a range of devices, you’ll find a host of practical tips to help children get the most out of their digital world on this website https://www.internetmatters.org/
We also have a page on the school website https://www.bowdoncs.org.uk/parental-guides/
Please can we particularly draw your attention to TikTok - see below
TikTok is a short-form mobile video platform now available in 150 countries around the world. Its popularity has quickly spread and of course children are keen to get involved. We know from conversations in school that many are already involved in this app so we wanted to draw your attention to advice on how to keep your children safe. TikTok is a make-your-own music video app that is now one of the top most downloaded apps in the world. It’s wildly popular amongst teens and young adults who enjoy creating short lip-sync videos to share on the popular social media platform.
Parents should know there are lots of safety and privacy concerns with TikTok.
The TikTok app has a range of features that can enhance your experience on the app and make it safer and more creative. However, like other similar apps, the minimum age for users is 13. To read more information please follow these links so you are informed about the risks
https://smartsocial.com/tiktok-app-guide-parents/
Keeping your child safe from algorithms.
Online sites such as YouTube use algorithms (computer programming) to recommend videos to watch based on your viewing habits. Research has shown that these algorithms can push users towards increasingly extreme content. Far-right and ‘incel’ content is also easily accessible on sites such as Reddit, Instagram, TikTok, Discord and Twitch. Be mindful of what pupils are doing online. Encourage critical thinking when faced with targeted adverts and algorithms.
E-Safety Policy
Our school E-Safety policy can be found in the 'Information' section of this website on the 'Policies' page here.