Safety Net Parent Guides

SafetyNetSessionNotes

Thesenotesshouldbeusedasareminderofsomeofthekeymessages deliveredduringtheSafetyNet–keepingchildrensafeonlinesessionthat youhavejustexperienced.

Nearlyallofwhatchildrendoonline,theydooutsideschool.Schoolsalone cannothelpchildrentostaysafeonline.Childrensometimeshavethingsthey feeltheycan’ttalkabout.

YouhaveaSafetyNetbook.Vitalinhelpingparentstosharethelearningat homeandstarttheprocessofhavingopendiscussiononsometrickytopics andhowtokeepsafewhenusingtheinternet,socialmediaandplaying onlinegames.

Onlinesafetyiswhenyoungpeopleknowwhotheycantelliftheyfeel upsetbysomethingthathashappenedonline.

PARENTNOTE

Inschool–childrengainagoodunderstandingofthetheoryonhowtostaysafe online.Outsideschool–leftunsupervised,theystruggletoapplythetheoryand seetherisks.FollowthePARENTNOTEoneachpageforallthetipsand guidanceyouneed.

WorkingwithHomeOffice‘PREVENT’,ThePoliceandCrimeCommissioner andChildren’sSafeguardingPartnershipstohelpkeepchildrensafeonline.

TheInternetisgreat!

Theonlineenvironmentisamassivelypositiveandanamazingspace.Itdelivers hugebenefits,enablingustostayconnected,work,learnandplay.

Usedpositivelyandwithsupervision,childrencanadvancesomuchmorethanever before.Leftalone,youngpeoplehaven’tgotthelifeskillstorecognisethedangers. Technologyisnotababysitter.

‘Online’ means connected tothe Internet

TheInternethassomegreatadvantages

TheInternetispartofoureverydaylivesathomeandat schoolmakingitpossibleforustodoamazingandfunthings.

Youcanlearn.

Youcanlookatwebsitesfor information.Thisiscalled‘browsing’.

Youcanplay gameswithother peoplefrom aroundtheworld.

Youcanbuyandorderthings. Thisiscalled‘onlineshopping’.

PARENTNOTE

Itisvitalwesupportandprepareourchildrenhowtousethisspacepositively andkeepsafe.Buildrelationshipaboutwhattheydoonline.Don’tworryifyou donotknowasmuchasthem,weallstartthatway.

Ifyouencouragedisclosureandtrust,withouttellingoff,yourchildwillopenup andyoucanbegintheprocessofhavingopenandhonestconversation.Just likehowyouprovidethemwiththeskillstobesafeinthephysicalworld,they willusethesameskillstobesafe online andeverythingwillworkout.

Youcanlistento music.Youcan also‘download’ andstoremusic ontoyourdevice.

Youcanwatch films,videos andtelevisionprogrammes.

Youcanchatwithpeople, sharepicturesandmessages. Thisis‘socialmedia’.

Technologyiscleveratkeepingourchildrenhookedandmuchofwhattheyseefor thefirsttime,isbymistake.

Foralotofchildren,contentisdeliveredtothemwithoutthemactivelylookingfor it.Youngpeoplecannowaccessalotofthingstheywouldn’thavehadachanceto yearsago,untiltheybecameadults.

Thetechworldcan easilymakeyoung peoplefeelthey havedone somethingwrong whentheyhavenot.

PARENTNOTE

Youngpeopletakealotofthingsatfacevalue,aretootrustingandcanmake somebadchoices.Let’stakearealisticapproachandnotbeconfrontational. Letthemknowthattheydonothavetofeelasthoughtheyhavedonesomething wrong,nobodyisgoingtogetcrossanditisnottheirfault.Youcanthenguide yourchildthroughconversation,justlikeyoudointhephysicalworld.

Socialmediasiteswillnotparentyourchild thesamewayyouwill

Manychildrengettheirinformationfromonlineresources.Itcanbeverydistorting anddisturbing,especiallyiftheyarenotopenlysharingitwithparentswhocangive guidanceandsupport.Itisveryeasytopoisonyoungmindsandforthemtocopy whattheysee.

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Socialmediacaneasilyleadtomeeting newpeople.Ittakesminutestobuild relationshipsonline,it’sincrediblyquick. Veryeasyforpeopletobenice,kind,give attentionandtrickchildrenintomaking badchoices.

PARENTNOTE

Allchildrenknowwhatastrangerisandwhattheyshouldandshouldnotdoin thephysicalworld.Buttheystruggletounderstandthisinthedigitalworld, becauseinsocialmediaitisallaboutaddingpeopleandsomeofthosepeople theywillnotknow.Thisiswhereparentalinvolvementhasgottocomein.

Donotletyourchildhaveasocialmediaaccountiftheyareunderage.As parents,weneedtostoppretendingorassumingourchildisn’tcapable.Young peoplecopywhattheysee.

Constantlymonitorthenumberoftheironlinefriendsandfilterthemdown. Alwaysremindthemtoneverpurchaseorsubscribetoanythingonlinewithout gainingyourpermissionfirstorarrangetomeetsomeonewhotheyhavemet online.

Socialmediahaveagera�ngsforareason!

‘Add’

‘FOLLOW’

‘peopleyou mayknow’

Onlineinfluencers

Aninfluencerissomeonewithalargesocialmediaorgamingfollowingwhocan ‘influence’theiraudience.

Childrenwillcomeacrossmanydifferenttypesofonlineinfluencers.Theycanbe bothgoodandbadrolemodels.

PARENTNOTE

Influencersarenotregulated.

Ifyourchildfollowsanonlineinfluencer,thenyoushouldfollowthatpersontoo. Thisway,notonlywillyouknowwhatyourchildisengagingwithandwhatis beingpromoted,itwillhelpyoutohaveconversation,provideadviceand guidance,justlikeyoudointhephysicalworld.Youshouldalsofollowyourchild. Ifwedonotgetinvolved,everythingtheyseeandread,theywillstarttobelieve.It canshapehowtheygrowup.

Alwaysremindthemtoneverpurchaseorsubscribetoanythingonlinewithout gainingyourpermissionfirstorarrangetomeetsomeonewhotheyhavemet online.

‘SHARE’

Playingonlinegames

Gamingcanberealfunandhelpdevelopsomegreatskills. Somegamesaregoodatencouragingyoungpeopletobuyextrafeaturesandingamepurchases–rewards.Thisissimplyatricktogetparentstospendrealmoney inreturnforimaginaryprizesinanimaginaryworld.

PARENTNOTE

Gameshaveanageratingforareason (language,violence,themes,contentetc). Ingamingyouneedtoplayagainst competitors.

Onlinegamingencourageschildrentoaddpeopleandsomeofthosepeople theywillnotknow.Noteveryoneisfromschool.

Donotallowyourchildtoplayaninappropriateage-relatedgame.Constantly monitorthenumberoftheironlinefriendsandfilterthemdown.

Alwaysremindthemtoneverpurchaseorsubscribetoanythingonlinewithout gainingyourpermissionfirstorarrangetomeetsomeonewhotheyhavemet online.

Thinkbeforeyoushare

Sendinganimagemeansitcanbesharedagainbyothers. Usingsocialmedia,videos,webcam,livestreamingandtexting,youngpeopleare sharingmoreandmoreimagesofthemselves,fromanearlyage. Itcanleadtoonlinebullying,groomingoremotionalstress.

PARENTNOTE

Childrenwillmakemistakesandweneedtosupportthem.Itcanhappentoboys justasmuchasgirls

Discussregularlywithyourchildwhattheyliketotakepicturesorvideosof?Who dotheysharethemwith?

Regularlyremindthemtothinkbeforetheyshare.Anyimagetheysendof themselvescanalsobesharedagainbyothers.

Ifyouseeanindecentimage,youshouldreportit.Thequickeranimageis reported,theeasieritisforInternetplatformsandthepolicetotaketheimage offlineandstopitbeingshared.

Sexualabuseimagesandcommentsonlineareatrecordlevels.

SomepeopleusetheInternet,socialmediaandgamingtogroomchildrenand youngpeople.

Groomingisaboutbuildingarelationshipusingliesandnicewordstogaina person’strust.Thistrustisthenusedtotrickthepersonintodoingthewrong things,makebadchoicesandtohurtthem.

Groomingcanbefareasieronlineespeciallywithunsupervisedchildren.Groomers trickchildrenintochattingandsharingimagesthroughprivatechatsusingsocial media,webcamsandonlinegaming.Theycanpretendtobeanotheryoungperson.

PARENTNOTE

Alwaysdiscussregularlywithyourchildwhattheydoonlineandwhowith.They shouldbewaryofpeopletheytalktoonline,notsharepersonalinformationandbe awareofhowtheyappearintheironlineprofiles.

Constantlymonitorthenumberoftheironlinefriendsandfilterthemdown. Alwaysremindthemtonevermeetsomeonewhotheyhavemetonline.

FakeNews,gangs,violence,hatecrime andradicalisation

‘Fakenews’ismadeupnews.Theinformationisfalse,aninvention,alie.Ittakes theappearanceofrealnewstotrickpeopleintothinkingitistrue.Fakenewscan beusedtoprofitfrombytricking,influencingandbrainwashingviewers. FakeNewscanbeusedtosellyousomething,promotegroups,fear,glorifygangs, violence,hateandradicalisation.

Wearelosingtoomanyyoungmindstonegativeinfluences,havingtheirbrains poisonedintomakingbadchoices.

PARENTNOTE

Weneedtobemindfulthatasyoungpeoplespendmuchmoretimeonline,they areverylikelytocomeacrossmanydifferenttypesoffakenews.Ifwedonot engagewiththeironlineactivitiesandsupportwithcarefulguidance,thereisareal riskchildrenwillstarttobelieveeverythingtheyseeandread.

Regularlydiscussallcurrenttypesofnews,evenifitisn’tgoodnews.Childrenare highlylikelytosee,hearorreadonlineaboutwhathappenedinnon-childfriendly terms.Pretendingthatnothinghappenedisnolongeranoption.Behonest Childrencanbecomescared,worriedandanxious Letthemknowtheyaresafeandit’sgoodtotalk.Bereadytotalk,listenand supportthemwithcriticalthinking.Itwillreducethemlookingonlinefor themselvesandreachingouttoothers.

ParentalControlsandPrivacySettings

Doingsomethingisbetterthandoingnothing–itisyourresponsibility,otherwise theinternetwilltreatyourchildasanadult.

MakesureyoutalktoyourInternetproviderandmobilephoneoperator.Theywill setalltheparentalcontrolsyouneedtohelpreducetherisksyourchildmayface online.

Itisamust.

Timingrestrictionswillallowyourchildtoonlyusetheinternetatcertaintimesof theday.Greatfornighttimesandgettingthemagoodnightsleep.

PARENTNOTE

Speaktoyourinternetproviderandaskthemtosetyoursafetycontrols.

Donotallowanydevicesinbedrooms–asparentsgotosleep,childrenhave askillatre-awakening.

Createrulesaroundwhat’sokandwhat’snot.

Weareallheretohelp

Alwaysletyourchildknowthattheyshouldalwayssayiftheyseeorhearanything onlinethatmakesthemfeelscaredoruncomfortableandtoneverarrangetomeet someonewhotheyhavemetonline.

Letthemknowthattheydonothavetofeelasthoughtheyhavedonesomething wrong,nobodyisgoingtogetcrossanditisnottheirfault.

Ifyouareconcernedwithanythingyouoryourchildhasseenoraskedtodo,please callChildlineortellyourchild’sschool.Theyaretheretohelp.

SafetyNetwillhelpyoustarttheprocessofhavingopendiscussiononthesetrickytopicsfromanearly ageandhowtokeepsafeonline.

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Pleasefeelfreetosharethisparentalguidewithyourfamily, friendsandcolleagues.

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WorkingwithHomeOffice‘PREVENT’,ThePoliceandCrimeCommissioner andChildren’sSafeguardingPartnershipstohelpkeepchildrensafeonline.

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