Online Safety

Download: Online Safety Policy 2023-2024 [PDF]

What Parents and Carers Need to Know about Five Nights at Freddy’s

Please find the National Online Safety guide for What Parents and Carers Need to Know about Five Nights at Freddy’s below.

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You might know Five Nights at Freddy’s by reputation, even if your child has never actually played the game. Via playground rumours and circulated footage on platforms like YouTube, this 12-rated survival horror series (so far comprising nine games, several spin-off novels and a movie adaptation) has become possessed of a certain cult status among far younger players.

Whether the initial interest is sparked by peer pressure or morbid curiosity, this spooky saga of things that go bump in the night seems to resonate with many pre-teen gamers. However, as our #WakeUpWednesday guide explains, the sinister characters, unrelenting sense of tension and some disturbing themes are all potential hazards that parents and carers should be aware of.

What Parents and Carers Need to Know about EA Sports FC

Please find the National Online Safety guide for What Parents and Carers Need to Know about EA Sports FC below.

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For 20 years, FIFA dominated the football video gaming arena, attracting legions of devoted fans and scooping up accolades like a digital Real Madrid. After parting ways with the sport’s governing body, however, renowned developers Electronic Arts (EA) have now launched their own individual bid for the title. It’s called EA Sports FC 24, and its effectively FIFA 2.0.

Familiar action delivered by the same team, of course, points to a comparable level of popularity – especially among those young gamers raised on the FIFA franchise. As our #WakeUpWednesday guide highlights, however, EA Sports FC 24 also carries many similar risks to its predecessor, including addictive gameplay, abusive voice chats and expensive in-game purchases.

Supporting Children to Deal with Upsetting Content

Please find the National Online Safety guide for Supporting Children to Deal with Upsetting Content below.

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They might not be able to pinpoint its location on a map, and they might not fully grasp the historical and political drivers behind the conflict – but in this age where news, images and video can cross continents in seconds, many children are now aware of the terrible recent events in Israel. It’s a situation, of course, that could cause youngsters extreme distress and worry.

Our #WakeUpWednesday guide contains some valuable pointers for supporting children to deal with upsetting content they’ve encountered online – whether that’s the attacks in Israel, ongoing worries over the environment, or something else entirely. Our tips will assist trusted adults in helping young people to process any negative emotions that they may be feeling.

Top Tips for Setting Boundaries Around Gaming

Please find the National Online Safety guide for Top Tips for Setting Boundaries Around Gaming below.

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Behind video-sharing platforms (like YouTube) and streaming TV shows and movies, gaming is the third most popular online activity for children in the UK. In fact, according to recent data from Ofcom, an overwhelming 89% of children aged 3 to 17 play video games. Of those, more than one in five (22%) talk to other players online who they don’t know outside the game. 

The risk of contact from strangers is just one of the reasons that many parents are concerned about their child’s gaming: increased screen time, inappropriate content and in-game spending also figure among the most frequent fears. Agreeing on some rules around your child’s gaming activities can certainly help, and our guide has some useful tips for establishing these boundaries.

What Parents and Carers Need to Know About WhatsApp

Please find the National Online Safety guide for What Parents and Carers Need to Know About WhatsApp below.

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WhatsApp is the most widely used messaging platform on the planet, with over two billion users (forecast to become three billion by 2025), across more than 180 countries. The majority of those people (70%) open the app at least once a day – but what exactly are they seeing? Contact from strangers, fake news and convincing scams are all among the service’s well-documented hazards. 

 According to Ofcom, WhatsApp is used by more than half of 3- to 17-year-olds in the UK (including one in three from the 8–11 bracket), despite its 16+ age restriction. If your child hops onto WhatsApp to stay in touch with friends or family, our updated #WakeUpWednesday guide to the service contains the key details you’ll need to support them in doing it safely.

What Parents and Carers Need to Know About Among Us

Please find the National Online Safety guide for What Parents and Carers Need to Know About Among Us below.

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Created in 2018 by a small indie studio that (at the time) had only four employees, Among Us has become one of the gaming world’s biggest breakout hits of recent years. In 2020, for example, it was the world’s most-downloaded mobile game. Its simplicity helped Among Us to resonate with younger players in particular: the game’s second largest audience slice is the 13–18 age bracket.

While the 7+ age rating, emphasis on teamwork and cartoonish, colourful graphics all suit a young fan-base, however, the game does carry more serious risks than betrayal by a team-mate or an untimely on-screen demise – with in-game purchases and possible contact from strangers on our #WakeUpWednesday guide’s list of hazards that trusted adults should bear in mind.

What Parents and Carers Need to Know about Live Streaming

Please find the National Online Safety guide for What Parents and Carers Need to Know about Live Streaming below.

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Like a lot of digital services, live streaming really found its niche during the pandemic – think of Joe Wicks’ at-home fitness classes, Billie Eilish’s virtual gigs and Miley Cyrus’ chat show, for example. Real-time broadcasting of video content over the internet isn’t solely the province of celebrities, however: anyone with a device and something to say (or show) can take part. 

With platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, TikTok and Twitch all offering routes to a vast online audience, young people have enthusiastically taken up the baton – streaming on subjects from gaming to sports to live shopping (yes, really!). Potentially having strangers among one’s viewers, though, is just one of many concerns. Our #WakeUpWednesday guide has the key information.

What Parents and Carers Need to Know about Threads

Please find the National Online Safety guide for What Parents and Carers Need to Know about Threads below.

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With the power and credibility of Meta (including a ready-made relationship with Instagram) behind it, plus users’ increasing frustration with Twitter and – for the moment, at least – no adverts, Threads struck an unprecedented social media ‘sweet spot’ when it launched in July 2023. “Way beyond our expectations,” was a delighted Mark Zuckerberg’s early verdict.

While Threads is currently relatively basic in terms of features, some concerns have already been raised over the sheer volume of users’ data the platform collects, the possibility of algorithms recommending unsuitable content and, as always, other people’s spiteful behaviour. Our #WakeUpWednesday guide brings parents and carers up to speed on this notable new arrival.

What Parents and Carers Need to Know about Online Financial Scams and Exploitation

Please find the National Online Safety guide for What Parents and Carers Need to Know about Online Financial Scams and Exploitation below.

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More than 80% of people in the UK regularly make purchases online: it’s quick, it’s convenient and – much of the time – it’s safe. Not, however, quite as often as we would like to believe. In fact, financial losses to internet or e-commerce fraud have risen alarmingly in recent times – from an annual total of £139 million at the start of the 2010s to a staggering £376m per year by 2020.

As buying online becomes an increasingly preferred option (it now accounts for almost a third of the UK’s entire retail market), it’s important that the next generation is prepared to navigate away from the various scams and schemes that lie in wait for unwary online shoppers. Parents and carers can find some useful tips and conversation starters in our #WakeUpWednesday guide.

What Parents and Carers Need to Know about Sharing Photos Online

Please find the National Online Safety guide for What Parents and Carers Need to Know about Sharing Photos Online below.

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One of the more heartwarming, life-affirming aspects of social media is being able to share special moments in our children’s lives with family and friends: from the first day at school or blowing out birthday cake candles to smiling holiday selfies and cute Hallowe’en costumes. Is there, however, such a thing as too much sharing – and can it actually put children in danger? 

With potential risks such as accidentally displaying identifying details (images showing where a child lives or what school they go to, for example) and photos being seen and saved by strangers, perhaps we need to take a little more caution over what we post and where we post it. Our #WakeUpWednesday guide runs through some safety considerations when sharing images.