Online Safety
Online Safety Newsletter
Parents Guide - Keeping your child safe online
SUPPORT FOR PARENTS AND CARERS TO KEEP CHILDREN SAFE ONLINE
Please access the resources below to help keep children safe from different risks online. You can also access information about where to go to get support and advice.
It is important to have regular conversations about staying safe online and to encourage children to speak to you if they come across something worrying online. Talk to your child about the importance of creating a safe online environment, including keeping any log-in details and passwords safe.
These resources will support you to talk to your child about a range of online safety issues, set up home filtering in a child-friendly way and set up age-appropriate parental controls on digital devices:
- The UK Safer Internet Centre provides a wide variety of guides and resources to help young people stay safe online. You can also report any harmful content found online through the UK Safer Internet Centre
- NSPCC Online Safety– nspcc - keeping children safe online safety
- CEOP(Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command) – ceop police - safety centre
- Thinkuknow– by the National Crime Agency – Child Exploitation and Online Protection command (NCA-CEOP) – resources for parents and carers and children of all ages to help keep children safe online
- Internet matters – for support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online. Internet Matters has step-by-step guideson how to set up parental controls so that you can control what content your child can access online
- Childnethas developed guidance for parents and carers to begin a conversation about online safety, as well as guidance on keeping under-fives safe online
- Inclusive Digital Safety Huband Online Safety Hub, created by South West Grid for Learning in partnership with Internet Matters – support and tailored advice for young people with additional learning needs and their parents or carers
- Parents’ Guide to Age Ratingsexplains how the British Board of Film Classification rates content, and gives parents advice on choosing online content well
- London Grid for Learning– for support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online
Staying safe on a PlayStation
Internet Matters have teamed up with Sony Interactive Entertainment to create a quiz that you can play with your child to see who knows more about the safety options available on a PlayStation. Play the quiz.
ROBLOX
Roblox is a platform consisting of a collection of games. Players can either create games or play games that other users have created. It is free to download (however subscription options and in game/app purchases are available) and can be played across numerous devices. A lot of the content is user generated, which may mean not all games will be suitable for your child to view/play. It is important to set up appropriate parental controls for your child.
To view content that is suitable for 17+, then a user must participate in a verification process by submitting valid ID.
Further information:
What rating is Roblox?
PEGI rate Roblox with a Parental Guidance label, this is because it is difficult to rate due to the huge level of user generated content. It is rated for ‘Teens’ on Google Play and 12+ on the App store.
What should I be aware of?
Chat Facility - Players can chat to each other on Roblox. You can turn communication off completely or add restrictions, such as only communicate with friends.
Virtual Currency - Players can buy Robux (their virtual currency) to buy in-game upgrades or accessories. For children under 13, you can set the Monthly Spend Restriction in settings.
Game content – as mentioned, users create games so sometimes the content/themes may not be appropriate for your child.
How do I report abuse and block users?
Roblox have a Report Abuse system so show your child how to use it to report inappropriate content as well as how to block other users. There are different ways of doing this depending on the device being used.
How do I set up parental controls and a pin?
Parental controls are available within settings. We recommend that you explore the parental controls available and set as appropriate. You can enable a PIN, which means that changes cannot be made without this pin. You can set up Allowed Experiences, which allows you to select age-appropriate experiences, so your child can only join experiences that match their age. Age categories available are for all, 9+, 13+ and 17+. All experiences are still searchable though.
TikTok
You must be over 13 years of age to use TikTok.
TikTok is a social media platform for sharing and watching short video clips. Some of the videos on TikTok may not be appropriate for your child to view and there is also the risk of strangers contacting your child. If your child is using TikTok then make sure the appropriate security/privacy settings are on. content that may not be appropriate) and screen time management. Find out more.
Account set up
By default, accounts for people under 16 are set to private at the start and we would recommend keeping it as this. This means your child must approve follower requests. You can read more about the other settings available (such as switching off comments and switching on restricted mode) here.
As always, it is important that when setting up an account on TikTok, your child enters their real date of birth as accounts are tailored by age. For example, Direct Messaging is disabled for accounts aged 13-15 and they do not receive push notifications from 9pm. In addition, advertisements are tailored to the user’s age.
Family Pairing
This allows you to link your own account to your child’s account. You can then set controls such as restricted mode (limit the appearance of content that may not be appropriate) and screen management. Tik Tok safety
Further information
How do I report abuse and block users?
Ensure your child knows how to use the safety features available to them, including how to report comments, direct messages and another user. Tik Tok help centre
What can my child see on TikTok?
Inappropriate content, themes and challenges on TikTok
Whilst against TikTok’s guidelines, explicit and inappropriate content can be found on this platform, for example nudity/sexual content and hate speech. We often see viral challenges on social media, some of which can be dangerous. If your child is using TikTok, chat to them regularly about what they are viewing.
Sensitive Content Warning on Apple devices
Apple released their new iOS 17 operating system in September. One of the new features includes a “sensitive content warning.’ You can choose to receive a warning about any photos or videos that might contain nudity before you view them. It also links to related resources and guidance.
If Sensitive Content Warning is activated on your device and the device believes an image/video contains nudity, then your device will blur the image and display a warning so you can choose to view it or not. You can activate this setting in ‘Privacy and Security.’ Find out more.
This article also links to further information about “Communication Safety on your child’s Apple device.” This is available for child accounts signed in with their Apple ID and part of a Family Sharing group.
