Online safety is an umbrella term for promoting the safeguarding of children and young people when using any internet connected device. The online world can add great value to personal lives and an effective whole-setting approach to online safety empowers settings to protect and educate pupils, students, and staff in their use of technology and establishes mechanisms for the identification, intervention, and escalation of any concerns when appropriate.
Content - being exposed to illegal, inappropriate or harmful content e.g. pornography, fake news, racism, misogyny, self harm, suicide, anti-semitism, radicalisation and extremism.
Contact - being subjected to harmful online interaction with other users e.g peer to peer pressure, commercial advertising, grooming, exploitation for criminal, financial or sexual purposes
Conduct - personal online behaviour that increases the likelihood of or causes of harm e.g. making, sending and receiving explicit messages, consensual and non consensual sharing of nudes and semi-nudes and pornography, sharing other explicit images and online bullying (cyber-bullying).
Commerce - risks such as online gambling, inappropriate advertising, phishing and or financial scams.
Violent content
Pornographic content
Hateful content
Adverts and spam
Harassment
Grooming
Radicalisation
Identity theft
Online bullying
Sharing nudes/semi nudes
Harmful content
Copyright infringement and Piracy
Gambling
Social networking and Gaming
If a child is having issues or facing difficulty online, they might:
Spend more time on their phone or online than usual
Seem distant, upset or angry after using their phone or the internet
Be secretive about who they’re talking to and what they’re doing online
Have lots of new contacts
Show more general changes in behaviour, such as changes in mood, behaviour or appearance – most safeguarding issues can have an online element to them
Sharing nudes and semi-nudes is the taking and/or sharing of sexual photos, videos or livestreams online of and by children (anyone under 18). This includes incidents where a child takes or shares an unsolicited photo (cyber-flashing). It doesn’t include the sharing of sexual imagery of children with or by adults – this is child sexual abuse.
Talk to our DSL (or deputy) as soon as possible
Explain to the child that you need to report it to our DSL (or deputy)
Reassure the child that they will receive support and help
View, share, download or print the imagery – if you view the imagery by accident (e.g. if a child shows it to you before you can ask them not to), report this to our DSL or deputy
Promise confidentiality
Say or do anything to blame or shame any of the children involved
Delete the image or ask the young person to delete it
Internet Matters - Find information and safety settings for your child's devices and apps, along with guidance to tackle online issues they may face.
Saferinternet - Tips, advice, guides and resources to help keep your child safe online
CEOP - CEOP is a law enforcement agency and is here to help keep children and young people safe from sexual abuse and grooming online.
Use of social media for online radicalisation - A briefing note for school son how social media is used to encourage travel to Syria and Iraq.
Sharing nudes and semi-nudes: advice for education settings working with children and young people
National Online Safety - guides for staff and parents providing expert advice on keeping children safe online.
getsafeonline - factual and easy-to-understand information on online safety.
Childnet - provides guidance for schools on cyber bullying
LgfL - Information and training on online safety.
The ETF Online Learning environment - provides online training modules for practitioners, leaders and managers, to support staff and governors/Board members in outlining their roles and responsibilities under the duty.
Common Sense Media - Common Sense Media is the leading source of entertainment and technology recommendations for families. Provides a search facility with information about age appropriateness of games and films.
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