Internet Safety

Children and young people’s lives have changed dramatically because of the coronavirus. With social distancing measures and most schools facing class closures, children will be spending more time at home and online.

The internet can be a great place for children and young people to learn, explore and play. It is a great tool for staying in touch with friends and family as well as interacting with the world around them. The internet can also be an incredibly inclusive, creative and fulfilling place. However, the virtual online world can be dangerous too and can present great risk of potential harm to our children and young people. It is important that we are aware of how to ensure that our children are safe when online. For our children here at Springwell, that risk is very real. They may not be aware of potential dangers or what to do when they face them.

Now more than ever it’s important to ensure that our children are using the internet safely. It’s important to talk to your child about staying safe online and about the apps and sites they’re using.

Here are some top tips for parents:

Ensure children are supervised when on the internet – just like we would supervise them outdoors
Rules that apply in real life should apply on the internet too – language, age limits etc
Make use of parental controls – most devices should have this
Use safe searches – there are safe search engines (e.g. swiggle.org or kids-search.com) or safe searches can be enabled
Check age ratings on apps, films, games and social media – they are a good guide for how suitable something is
Set routines and limits – providing boundaries and routines is very important for our children. For screen time it is good to establish agreed limits that you can stick to.
Sleep – blue light from screens and the mental activity from using devices can affect sleep so it’s advisable to avoid screen time near bedtime

Online Safety Guides

Helpful Links

Google

- Be Internet Legends

Government advice

- Safe online during coronavirus

Childline

- Online bullying guide for parents

NSPCC

- Online Safety and Coronavirus

- Keeping your child's phone safe

Childnet

- Parents & Carers

BBC

- Supporting children to be safe online

Internet Matters

- Advice by age: setting controls

- Supporting SEND, LAC and LGBTQ+ children online

Mencap

- Advice for parents/carers

UK Safer Internet Centre

- Lots of guidance, support and advice: organisers of annual Internet Safety Day

Get safe Online

- Safe use of computers for parents and children

Thinkuknow

- Support for reporting concerns & activity packs for families

Reporting Harmful Content

- Dealing with and reporting harmful content on the internet

CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command)

- Dealing with and reporting harmful content relating specifically to children

Poppy Playtime -

Our online safety experts have been alerted to a video game, being described by some users as an “introduction to horror.” Videos, versions of the game, and associated material are becoming increasingly popular on YouTube, Roblox, and other platforms used by young children.

Poppy Playtime features frightening images and themes that are paired with child-friendly items. This may be especially upsetting to children who have not yet developed the resilience to deal with disturbing content.

To help parents, carers, and safeguarding professionals better understand these issues, we’ve taken a deeper look at Poppy Playtime and the wider genre it belongs to.

To find out more please visit - Our Safer Schools