E-Safety for Parents and Children

E-Safety with Mr C

We understand the pressure that parents might be under during the current COVID-19 outbreak.

School closures mean many children are expected to learn from home and the onus is on parents to help facilitate this. That could be in addition to working from home yourselves as well as trying to help keep your children entertained.

While we are all self-isolating and socially distancing due to Coronavirus, social media platforms, like Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat plus loads more including various video chat platforms are a great way to stay in touch with friends and family, share your thoughts and ideas and connect with like-minded people.

Unfortunately, although rare, there are negative influencers and online groomers who use the internet, social media and online gaming to spread their extreme ideas, which children can be exposed to.

Starting a conversation about online safety

During this difficult time, we all become more reliant communicating online, so it is very important to have conversations about online safety. It can be difficult to know how to start talking to your child about what they’re doing online or who they might be speaking to. But talking regularly, like you would about their day at school, will help your child feel relaxed and mean that when they do have any worries, they’re more likely to come and speak to you. It can help to:

reassure them that you’re interested in their life, offline and online. Recognise that they’ll be using the internet to research homework as well as talking to their friends.
ask your child to show you what they enjoy doing online or apps they’re using so you can understand them.
be positive but also open about anything you’re worried about. You could say “I think this site’s really good” or “I’m a little worried about things I’ve seen here.”
ask them if they’re worried about anything, and let them know they can come to you.
ask them about their friends online and how they know they are who they say they are.
listen for the reasons why your child wants to use apps or site you don’t think are suitable, so you can talk about these together.
ask your child what they think’s okay for children of different ages so they feel involved in the decision making.

If you have any concerns or just want to have a little more info please do not hesitate to contact me.

Below are some useful links and tips to help you to keep your children safe online during this challenging time. I would really recommend registering for the National Online Safety Organisation as shown below. We have invested in this so you can have Free access to their wonderful help and advice.

Be safe

Mr Cousins

ICT@ajs.hants.sch.uk

Please Read the Guides Below

Free Keeping Safe Guides Link

Click here to Register for National Online Safety – It’s FREE

Here you will find downloadable posters, social media guides for parents for popular apps and games and information leaflets about the latest topics in Online Safety. After your free registration ( we have taken care of all the costs) you will find many online courses and the knowledge needed to understand the very real online dangers. When registering you will be asked what kind of user you are and you just need to select Parent.

NOS – Video Intro Link

From the Press:

Two in five children made anxious every week when using internet, research reveals. A study carried out by UK Safer Internet Centre found that two in five school children have felt worried or anxious using the internet. In addition to this, almost half of the young people surveyed said that in the last year they had experienced some form of cyberbullying. Most importantly, 72% of young people said they wanted their school to teach them about cyberbullying and managing friendships online and one in ten pupils admitted to not receiving any online safety training in their school at all. The online world is filled with so many positive attributes that have helped us in so many ways even in its simplest form, but if not used safely, it also poses an incredible amount of risk.