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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Please find the National Online Safety guide for How to Stay Safe Online this Summer below.

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A free online safety guide on ‘How to Stay Safe Online this Summer’.

With the school summer holidays only a matter of days away, many parents and carers will already be planning outings and activities to keep their young ones entertained. In between those special summer moments, though, there are also likely to be occasions when children happily invest a whole afternoon in Among Us or spend most of their Monday on Minecraft.

As young people’s screen time almost inevitably increases over the holidays, parents like to feel confident that their child will stay safe while they’re exploring the digital world. So we’ve produced a #WakeUpWednesday poster with some simple solutions to help children avoid frequent online pitfalls and enjoy a more positive experience when they go online this summer.

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

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A free online safety guide on Rumble.

Conceived as giving independent content creators equal representation in the online space, Rumble has found something of a niche in restoring a voice to influencers who have been blocked from similar platforms. It’s become particularly renowned as a forum for political debate, with some prominent account holders’ choice of subject matter attracting a degree of notoriety.

Indeed, a study by the USA’s Pew Research Centre found that the platform’s most popular topics included gun laws, the January 2021 Capitol riots and Covid vaccines. Many parents and carers may feel that these sensitive topics – when addressed in a less-than-sensitive manner – aren’t suitable for young users. Our #WakeUpWednesday guide attempts to get a feel for Rumble.

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

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A free online safety guide on AI virtual friends.

Artificial intelligence is probably the hot topic in technology circles right now, with questions being raised worldwide about how AI might conceivably affect the very future of the human race. In the short term, however – definitely as far as its impact on young people is concerned – the clearest risk is almost certainly the AI-powered ‘virtual friends’ which are springing up all over the internet.

There’s Replika and Kuki, for instance, while Snapchat has recently got in on the act with My AI – and search engines like Bing and Google have developed their own versions. Are these machine intelligences suitable online companions for young people? What are their limitations and weak spots? Our #WakeUpWednesday guide profiles the emergence of AI ‘virtual friends’.