Online Safety

Download: Online Safety Policy 2023-2024 [PDF]

Stay Safe on New Devices

Please find the National Online Safety guide for ‘Stay Safe on New Devices‘ below.

Download: Stay Safe on New Devices [PDF]

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Whether you’re an internet newbie or a pro at surfing the web, it’s always important to keep online safety in mind. We’ve pulled together a list of top tips to make it easier for you to protect yourself and your devices in the digital world – helping you steer clear of hazards like misleading information and vicious viruses. There’s never a bad time to refresh your internet safety knowledge, but it’s an especially smart thing to do before you start using any shiny new devices!

In the guide, you’ll find tips such as double-checking your news sources, taking breaks from being online and not sharing personal information.

What Parents Need to Know about Setting Up Apps, Games and Software

Please find the National Online Safety guide for ‘What Parents Need to Know about Setting Up Apps, Games and Software‘ below.

Download: What Parents Need to Know about Setting Up Apps, Games and Software [PDF]

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Millions of new phones, tablets, laptops and games consoles will be nestling under Christmas trees this year. However, even if parents and carers have gone to the trouble of setting up these new devices and enabling the safety features, there are still potential hazards in the apps, games and software that children will want to install and use. Knowing what to look for and discussing those risks with your child may help avoid any nasty surprises this Christmas. Here are our top tips for ensuring that unwrapping this year’s presents doesn’t unleash any unexpected dangers.

In the guide, you’ll find tips such as disabling in-app purchasing, take note of age ratings and watching out for imitators. 

What Parents Need to Know about HiPal

Please find the National Online Safety guide for ‘What Parents Need to Know about HiPal‘ below.

Download: What Parents Need to Know about HiPal [PDF]

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HiPal is a trending social media app which turns phones into walkie-talkies, allowing people to have voice conversations with friends or strangers. There are two account options: one for users aged under 12 and one for those aged 12 or above. The former has fewer features and limits interaction with strangers; enabling use of the walkie-talkie feature or photo sharing with friends and family only. The 12+ accounts offer more options, including adding strangers as friends, sharing photos and videos publicly, send private messages and holding voice chats with strangers as well as friends.

In the guide, you’ll find tips on a number of potential risks such as contact with strangers, dangerous challenges and intrusive features. 

What Parents Need to Know about Social Media & Mental Health

Please find the National Online Safety guide for ‘What Parents Need to Know about Social Media & Mental Health‘ below.

Download: What Parents Need to Know about Social Media & Mental Health [PDF]

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An estimated one-third of children have a social media account, so it’s important that trusted adults know what content young people are consuming, what they’re posting and the interactions they’re having. On social media, it can be easy to go down a rabbit hole that isn’t beneficial to our wellbeing. As platforms grapple with managing ‘legal but harmful’ content, lives are being impacted – sometimes to tragic effect. We might be daunted by the scale of the tech giants and their content which enthrals young people, but we can still help children to be mindful of their mental wellness: recognising when something isn’t OK … and knowing what to do about content that upsets them.

In the guide, you’ll find tips such as how to hide content, setting daily limits and discussing what children have seen online.

What Parents Need to Know about TikTok

Please find the National Online Safety guide for ‘What Parents Need to Know about TikTok‘ below.

Download: What Parents Need to Know about TikTok [PDF]

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TikTok is a free social media platform that lets users create, share and watch short videos ranging anywhere from 15 seconds to 10 minutes in duration. The app gained notoriety for its viral dances, trends and celebrity cameos and can be a creative, fun platform for teens to enjoy. Now available in 75 languages, it has more than a billion active users worldwide (as of spring 2022) and is most popular with the under-16 age bracket. In fact, a 2022 Ofcom report found TikTok to be the most-used social media platform for posting content, particularly among young people aged 12 to 17.

In the guide, you’ll find tips on a number of potential risks such as age-inappropriate content, dangerous challenges and contact with strangers.

What Parents Need to Know about Call of Duty Modern Warfare II

Please find the National Online Safety guide for ‘What Parents Need to Know about Call of Duty Modern Warfare II‘ below.

Download: What Parents Need to Know about Call of Duty Modern Warfare II [PDF]

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The Call of Duty (CoD) series is a worldwide gaming phenomenon, with millions of copies sold every year. While 2021’s release, Vanguard, wasn’t quite as well received, this latest entry – Modern Warfare II – is proving to be hugely popular. A sequel to the recent Modern Warfare reboot (and not to be confused with the original Modern Warfare 2, from back in 2009), the game is an online shooter which features – unsurprisingly – extreme violence, rendered in realistic graphics. Amid the explosions and potential political nature of the plot, there’s much for parents to be aware of.

In the guide, you’ll find tips on a number of potential risks such as offensive chat/messaging, in-game purchases and addiction. 

What Parents Need to Know about How to Combat Online Bullying

Please find the National Online Safety guide for ‘What Parents Need to Know about How to Combat Online Bullying‘ below.

Download: What Parents Need to Know about How to Combat Online Bullying [PDF]

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Defined as “ongoing hurtful behaviour towards someone online”, cyber-bullying makes its victims feel upset, uncomfortable and unsafe. In the digital world, it has numerous forms – such as hurtful comments on a person’s posts or profile; deliberately leaving them out of group chats; sharing embarrassing images or videos of someone; or spreading gossip about them. Cyber-bullying can severely impact a young person’s mental health … so, in support of Anti-Bullying Week, we’ve provided a list of tips to help trusted adults know what to look for and how to respond to it. 

In the guide, you’ll find tips such as playing online games with your child, talking about your child’s online life and being prepared to listen without showing any judgement or criticism.

What Parents Need to Know about Overwatch 2

Please find the National Online Safety guide for ‘What Parents Need to Know about Overwatch 2‘ below.

Download: What Parents Need to Know about Overwatch 2 [PDF]

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A long-awaited sequel to 2016’s massively successful Overwatch, this is a futuristic shooting game with a focus on teamwork and strategy which gives it an extra dimension to the majority of titles in the genre. Its cast of characters is diverse and memorable, while there’s a definite (and rewarding) learning curve to players improving their skill. Created by established developers Blizzard Entertainment, Overwatch 2 is free to play, with an emphasis on competitive multiplayer action – meaning that children may want to play the game even more simply because their friends have it. 

In the guide, you’ll find tips on a number of potential risks such as violent gameplay, in-game purchases and voice chat. 

What Parents Need to Know about Amigo

Please find the National Online Safety guide for ‘What Parents Need to Know about Amigo‘ below.

Download: What Parents Need to Know about Amigo [PDF]

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Amigo is a social platform which purports to connect strangers from around the world – and, with built-in translation software, it reduces the expected language barriers. Focusing heavily on one-to-one chat, video calls and live streams, Amigo encourages its users to build up online relationships to unlock exclusive features such as private video and audio calls: essentially, the more that people chat, the more features become available to them. This is an app designed with mature users very much in mind and is therefore definitely not recommended for children. 

In the guide, you’ll find tips on a number of potential risks such as inappropriate contact, strangers and membership costs. 

What Parents Need to Know about Sendit

Please find the National Online Safety guide for ‘What Parents Need to Know about Sendit‘ below.

Download: What Parents Need to Know about Sendit [PDF]

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Sendit is an add-on to Snapchat, not a standalone app: it requires users to have an active Snapchat account, which they then connect to Sendit. It’s important that trusted adults realise, therefore, that any risks associated with Snapchat also affect children using Sendit. Within the app, people play question games like ‘Truth or Dare’ and ‘Never Have I Ever’: users select a question to share on their Snapchat story for their friends to reply to. All responses are anonymous, although – for paying subscribers – Sendit reveals hints about who sent which messages. 

In the guide, you’ll find tips on a number of potential risks such as bullying, harassment and grooming.