Online Safety
We understand that the when it comes to online safety there are a lot of questions for both students and parents. We would like to help by suggesting resources that may be helpful. If you have any concerns around online safety and what your child is accessing, please let us know. We appreciate that the internet is a fantastic resource but it is also easy to come across the wrong thing.
1. Here is a handy guide to snapchat, we think may be interesting:
2. We think the following link around Reddit may be helpful:
3. Here is a handy link around Discord you may find informative:
4. This week it is a fantastic information website for parents and students called digital matters. Digital matters give lessons and information on some really important online topics.
5. The NSPCC offer advice to parent around keeping children safe online - from talking to your children about online safety to parental controls the NSPCC offers great advice.
6. We are in the era of social media and it is a fantastic means of communication however it can also be a very mine field, here’s a practical guide for parents.
7. Age ratings and what should my child be playing? This is such a difficult question as the children often get upset because my friend does it why not me? The NSPCC blog gives a really interesting perspective on what to look for when deciding if a game is suitable. What are app age ratings?
8. This weeks link is an interesting article about video games and consoles which outlines different parental control options:
Social Media Parental Controls and Privacy Settings | Internet Matters
12. We have become aware that, while YouTube kids is a source of entertainment for children, unfortunately not all the videos uploaded to the site are appropriate for children. Whilst you may put on a specific video if autoplay is not disabled it may start videos that are not appropriate. We attach a guide below from google and YouTube explaining how to access all of the parental control available on YouTube kids. This includes disabling autoplay, turning off the search function and a number of other helpful tips and tricks. We hope that it is useful.
13. We have become aware of TikTok style video's circulating YouTube due to a relatively new feature called YouTube Shorts. These videos are only a couple of seconds long and have a scroll function similar to that of TikTok or Instagram Reels. As TikTok is a 13+ app some of the videos which have come from TikTok/Instagram onto Youtube shorts have mature themes and inappropriate content for children.
You can change the controls on Youtube Kids by entering the Settings >General>Turn off the Shorts
14. Grand Theft Auto - We know the world of online gaming can be a difficult one to get to grips with so this week we have focused on Grand Theft Auto. GTA is a free downloadable game on many platforms and is rated 18+ because it focuses on gang violence, nudity, extreme coarse language, and drug and alcohol abuse. Please see the following link for more information:
Grand Theft Auto - Online Safety Guide