Subscribe to the new Kent Online Safety blog

The online safety blog has recently moved to a new location.

If you haven’t updated your favourites with the new address, you may have missed the following posts:

• Online Safety within Keeping Children Safe in Education 2018
• Online Safety Briefing: Term 5 2017-18
• Survey of Headteachers and Designated Safeguarding Leads regarding online abuse
• IWF publish research on child sex abuse via live-streaming – implications and links for schools

To continue to follow the blog in its new home, please visit the Education People website and register for an account here: www.theeducationpeople.org/register 

Once you have an account you can log in and subscribe to receive email notifications whenever a new blog post is added from the safeguarding team (and any others that are of interest), via the ‘My Account’ settings.

We look forward to sharing online safety and safeguarding content with you over in our new location.

The Online Safety blog is moving home!

As part of the development of The Education People, the Kent online safety blog is moving to a new home. You can still expect the same quality information and content to be posted, just in a different location!

The most helpful and popular posts from the current blog have already been transferred over to the Education People site. They can be searched and accessed using the helpful category tags, although please be aware some tags are still being updated.

To get you started:

• Online safety
• Online safety template letters
• Online safety alerts
• Online safety resources for parents/carers
• Online safety briefings 

Next Steps

Please update any saved bookmarks for the blog to the new link:  https://www.theeducationpeople.org/blog/ 

Email subscribers to the blog will be contacted during May 2018 to enable followers to confirm that they wish to continue to receive email alerts.

Please contact us if you have any concerns or queries.

 

Online Safety Briefing: Term 4 2017-18 #esafety #onlinesafety

This is the 4th edition (Feb-March) of the Kent Education Safeguarding Team’s Online Safety briefings 2017-18. The aim of these posts is to help Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) in educational settings keep up to date with of some of the emerging online safety issues and research which may be of interest.

The following links are not endorsed, controlled or promoted by Kent County Council. This briefing should not be shared or forwarded directly to children, young people or parents/carers due to the sensitive and potentially distressing nature of some content.

Before sharing content that names specific apps or websites, we recommend DSLs access the following links:

• Online Safety Alert: Think before you scare
• Engaging parents in children’s use of apps
• UK Safer Internet Centre – Online Challenges: Advice for parents

Articles and Research

General

• The Guardian: Children struggle to hold pencils due to too much tech, doctors say
• Huffington Post: For Our Children, Growing Up Online Means Growing Up Fast

Cybercrime

• BBC:
  • Young Brits ‘lack cyber-security awareness’
  • Teenager arrested over schools bomb hoax
• The Telegraph: Cyber attacks are one of the biggest threats that schools face, experts warn

Gaming and Gambling

• Fortnite shoots to the top of teenagers’ most-wanted games list

Information Governance, Privacy and Data

• TES: GDPR for schools: how will the new data regulations affect my school?
• ICO: General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) FAQs for the education sector
• Sky News: Facebook: We have permission to log texts and calls
• The Guardian: Beware the smart toaster: 18 tips for surviving the surveillance age
• That’s Nonsense: How to check which Facebook apps are keeping tabs on you, and how to remove them 
• BBC:
  • School video footage appears online
  • Facebook suspends controversial data firm Cambridge Analytica
  • Is leaving Facebook the only way to protect your data?
  • Facebook privacy settings revamped after scandal

Peer on Peer Abuse 

• SWGFL: Social Media, cyberbullying and society’s real challenge
• LSE: The digital environment is fundamental to today’s sex education: nearly two decades-old sex and relationship education will be updated, finally!
• The Conversation: Sexting: a modern ‘crime’ that could be on a child’s police record for life
• BBC: Sarahah: Anonymous app dropped from Apple and Google stores after bullying accusations
• The Guardian: What I learned when naked pictures of me were leaked online
• Huffington Post: Why It’s Vital You Have A Conversation About Upskirting With Your Sons

Professional Conduct

• The Guardian: Social media makes it impossible to switch off from work
• NCA: Former day nursery manager charged with online child abuse offences
• TES:
  • Teacher banned for sending ‘sexually motivated’ messages to pupil
  • Banned: PE teacher who sent ‘flirtatious’ Snapchats to teenage girl
• Huffington Post: Social Media Can Ruins Careers – Don’t Let Yours Be One of Them

Self Esteem and Mental Health 

• BBC: Is social media causing childhood depression?
• TES: Schools alone cannot tackle pupils’ obsession with social media – parents and providers need to take responsibility
• SWGFL: FOMO Causes Young People To Spend Too Much Time Online

Sexual Abuse and Grooming

• The Guardian: ‘Sadistic’ paedophile Matthew Falder jailed for 32 years
• DEMOS: Technology Briefing Series: Online Child Sexual Abuse Imagery

Sex and Relationships Education

Be aware that filters may block access to this content due to language and terms used

• BBC:
  • Online porn age checks delayed in UK
  • Porn check critics fear data breach
  • Is social media to thank for low teen pregnancy rates?
• The Guardian: How YouTubers took over sex education

Social Media and Technology

• The Guardian:
  • Social media firms failing to protect young people, survey finds
  • A distraction? Far from it – your smartphone is your best friend
• Dr Mark Griffiths: Every little ring: Another look at excessive smartphone use
• BBC:
  • Vero: The ‘new Instagram’ everyone’s talking about
  • How much to fake a trend on Twitter? In one country, about £150
• Metro: Toddler locks iPhone for 48 years and the same thing could happen to your smartphone
• That’s Nonsense:Why do some Facebook posts no longer have the Share option? FAQS
• Childnet: Reporting on Snapchat – answering some frequently asked questions
• Wired: Children’s YouTube is still churning out blood, suicide and cannibalism
• The Telegraph: Lip-syncing app Musical.ly under fire for letting teens post self-harm and sexually suggestive videos

Trust, Radicalisation and Extremism

• Wired: How religious extremists gamed Facebook to target millions of Britons with far-right propaganda
• TES: ‘The explosion of online hate speech represents a very real challenge for teachers’
• That’s Nonsense:
  • The largest ever study of fake news has a very worrying conclusion
  • Facebook remove and ban Britain First Facebook pages

Educational Content

Teaching Materials, Tools and Videos

• Parent Zone and Google: Be Internet Legends Pack (KS2)
• BBC Newsbeat: Revenge porn: What to do if you’re a victim (18+)
• BBC Radio 5: Are too many of us pretending to be perfect on social media? (KS4/5)
• Internet Matters: Meet the Malwares – new educational resource launched by Industry Trust & Into Film (KS2/3)
• Childnet & PSA: Being Smart with your Smartphone (KS2)
• RAN Centre of excellence: Dealing with fake news, conspiracy theories and propaganda in the classroom
• BBC Newsround:
  • How Social Media uses our information (KS2/3)
  • A simple guide to what’s going on at Cambridge Analytica (KS2/3)

Articles for Parent/Carers

• LSE: Why the very idea of ‘screen time’ is muddled and misguided
• Childnet: A parents guide to Fortnite: Battle Royale
• Internet Matters:
  • My child wants to be a vlogger – is it safe? 
  • Parents guide to Roblox and how your kids can play it safely
  • Live.ly App – What parents need to know about the live streaming app
  • Yubo formerly Yellow social media app – what parents need to know
  • Fortnite Battle Royal parents’ guide to keep kids safe while gaming
  • What is ‘gaming addiction’ and how can you prevent children from developing it?
  • My child is actively seeking followers to build a brand online, how can I keep them safe?

Resources for parents/carers

• Vodafone/Parent Zone: Digital Life Skills Quiz 
• These Little Waves: This Is The Surprising Problem With Bad Apps For Kids
• Childnet: Screen time boundaries – new resource for parents and carers  (EYFS/KS1/ KS2)

Being Smart with Your Smartphone – New resource for KS2 from Childnet and PSA

Childnet International and the Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA) have worked together to create a lesson called Being Smart with Your Smartphone, this resource is designed for teachers to use with 8-11 year olds. The lesson highlights that it is possible to spend real money through your smartphone and gives key strategies to avoid any mishaps.

The resources are split into 3 parts;

• The Teacher Pack contain detailed lesson plan and extension activities. The lesson looks at the different ways that young people can spend money through their phones (such as in-app purchases or voting on a TV talent show) and gives them practical strategies to help them recognise them and know what to do.
• The PowerPoint presentation  features examples to highlight in-app purchases and explore tricky terms and conditions.
• The Student Pack includes worksheets and additional information for pupils.

Further information about the resources is available on the Childnet blog here and the resources can be downloaded here.

For further help and information on this topic:

• Childnet’s hot topic on premium rate content
• Information on how to restrict in-app purchases
• Information from Phone Paid Services Authority regarding checking numbers

 

 

Google and Parent Zone launch new KS2 resources: Be Internet Legends

Google and Parent Zone have collaborated on a new internet safety resource for use with Key Stage 2 pupils in UK primary schools. The ‘Be Internet Legends‘ curriculum is a PSHE Association accredited scheme of work and is free for KS2 teachers to order.

Containing lesson plans, support materials, worksheets, poster and stickers, curriculum packs will be delivered to schools to encourage discussion and exploration of issues such as appropriate behaviour, critical thinking and risk-spotting. The aim of the resources are to make young people safer and more confident explorers of the online world, and to help educators get across important messages with age-appropriate activities, tips and discussion points. Be Internet Legends assemblies will also be visiting schools in 2018.

Teachers can find out more about the content, assemblies and order the resources at: http://www.parentzone.org.uk/be-internet-legends

BBC launch new resources to challenge young people to spot “fake news”

The BBC have publish a collection of free online resources as part of BBC School Report’s annual News Day.

The resources are suitable for children and young people aged 11-18 and include online videos and lessons plans and an interactive ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ style game “BBC iReporter” produced with Academy Award-winning animation studios Aardman Animation. The game, which can be played on mobile, tablet and desktop, aims to help young people learn to a range of journalism skills and experience for themselves some of the decisions journalists face – like checking facts and sources, selecting social media reaction and identify fake, false and inaccurate information. It gives the player first-hand experience of working in a newsroom facing the fast-paced pressures behind creating a captivating story, whilst maintaining impeccable accuracy, impact and speed and navigating the various pitfalls thrown up by potential fake news elements.

The game has been created with the help and input of BBC School Reporters who have helped shape the storyline and look and feel of the game throughout the design and build stages. You can play via www.bbc.co.uk/ireporter

They have also published films and lesson plans to use in the classroom which help to explain what fake news is and why it is a problem, look at sources and the issues around trust and tips on how to spot fake, false and inaccurate information. These resources are available here.

If you have any feedback or wish to know more about the project please contact the BBC via realnews@bbc.co.uk

Other links:

• Can these schoolchildren spot fake news?
• Can you spot fake news?
• BBC School Report takes on fake news – Newsround
• Checking the story

Inquiry into the Impact of Cyberbullying on Social Media on Children and Young People’s Mental Health Published

Last year, Alex Chalk, MP for Cheltenham, in partnership with YoungMinds and The Children’s Society, set up an inquiry into the impact of cyberbullying on children and young people’s mental health.

A survey, published today was carried out by YoungMinds and The Children’s Society; the inquiry took oral and written evidence from young people – including an online survey of 1,089 young people aged 11-25 – social media companies, mental health experts and children’s charities in order to explore the impact of cyberbullying on children and young people’s mental health. Its panel included cross-party MPs and vlogger Grace Victory, who has spoken out about abuse she has received online.

• 62% of respondents were under the age of 18;
• Three-quarters of respondents were female (75%);
• Almost half of respondents (45%) said that they had experienced a mental health problem in the past.

One 15-year-old girl said:

“You kind of expect to experience it: nasty comments on the selfie, Facebook posts and Twitter posts, people screen grabbing your Snapchat story to laugh about it… I feel like it’s something people don’t take seriously. But leaving just one nasty comment could really hurt someone.

Social media companies should take complaints more seriously. If someone reports something, they shouldn’t take days to review it, they should literally just remove it straight away. The reaction from adults is just delete your account to stop the bullying, but that’s taking something away from that young person’s life for something that’s not their fault.”

What the survey revealed

• 61% of young people stated that they had their first accounts at age 12 or under, despite guidelines for social media sites stating that you must be 13 years old to have an account.
• In total, 44% of the young people surveyed stated that they spend more than three hours per day on social media.
• One in ten (9%) young people surveyed admitted logging on after midnight every night; one young person said it was “almost like a drug”. Young people giving evidence to the inquiry described feeling judged and inadequate if they didn’t have enough likes or followers.
• 62% of respondents said that social media had a positive impact on their friendships.
  • However, 38% of young people reported that social media had a negative impact on how they feel about themselves, more than those who reported it having a positive impact (23%).

Experiences of cyberbullying

• Almost half (47%) of young people surveyed had experienced threatening, intimidating or nasty messages via social media, email or text. 
• In total, 39% of young people reported having personal experience of online bullying in their lifetime, in contrast to 49% who reported experience of off-line bullying.
• 27% of young people reported personal experience of online bullying within the last year.
• In total, 60% of young people reported having seen somebody be harassed or bullied online.
• An overwhelming majority of young people surveyed (83%) said that social media companies should do more to tackle cyberbullying on social media, whilst only 6% of young people disagreed with this.

What should be done

The report  identified a number of issues that need to be addressed to ensure that social media companies play their part – together with Government, schools, families and industry – in creating a digital environment that limits the prevalence of cyberbullying and its negative impacts on children and young people.

The report has made a number of recommendations to social media companies, and to the Government to ensure that the online world is a safe and enjoyable place for children and young people.

Summary of recommendations

1. The Government requires social media companies to ensure that their platforms are age-appropriate, and that children and young people understand how their data will be used;
2. Social media companies enable children and young people to understand their rights and responsibilities including their behaviour towards others.
3. Social media companies provide timely, effective and consistent responses to online bullying
4. The Government improves accountability by requiring social media companies to publish data about their response to reports of online bullying
5. Social media companies prioritise the promotion of children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing across their platforms
6. The Government commissions additional research into the scale of online bullying, and its impact on children and young people
7. The Government puts children’s experiences at the heart of internet safety policy development
8. The Government educates children and young people to be safe and responsible online, and to know how to respond positively to online harms such as cyberbullying.

Childnet call on young people to ‘Connect with respect’ and enter their Film Competition

Childnet has launched their ninth Film Competition to encourage young people aged 7-18 to create a short film to educate their peers about staying safe online.

With the aim of encouraging young people to have respectful interactions online, the competition gives young people the opportunity to harness their creativity and share their understanding of online safety issues.

Judged by a panel of experts from the BBC, BAFTA, BBFC and BFI, the winning films will be shown at the finalists’ event in London and will be used as educational resources in schools across the UK.

This year’s theme focuses on how young people can ‘connect with respect’ and work together to make the better place for children and young people.

Important dates:

• Competition opens: Wednesday 21st February
• Competition closes: Monday 11th June
• Finalists notified: Monday 18th June
• Screening and finalist’s event at the BFI: Tuesday 3rd July

Connect with respect – how to take part

The Film Competition is split into two age categories and schools or youth organisations must oversee and submit entries on behalf of all participants. For both categories, young people must create a film in response to the theme:  ‘Connect with respect – a better internet starts with us!’

• Primary category: 7-11 year olds are invited to create a 60 second film  
• Secondary category: 11-18 year olds are invited to create a 2 minute film

For both age groups, Childnet are looking for creative, imaginative films which show how young people can make a positive difference online. Young people might express their ideas through comedy, animation, or music. They are encouraged to consider different filmmaking styles such as creating an advert, campaign or documentary.

Childnet have developed resource packs including storyboard templates, guides to filmmaking and other useful documents to help schools and youth organisations engage and support young people in making their films.

Closing date and how to enter

To enter the Childnet Film Competition please send an email to film@childnet.com to request an information pack. If you would like any more information, or find out more and download the schools packs visit www.childnet.com/film-competition

Entries need to be sent to Childnet by 11^th June, including entry and media consent forms which can be found at www.childnet.com/film-comp. There is also important information about copyright that entrants will need to consider.

Finalists Screening Event and Prizes

The shortlisted films will be shown on the big screen in front of industry guests and young people at the Childnet Film Competition 2018 Event at the BFI London Southbank and will also receive a BBFC rating.

The Film Competition winners will each receive a filmmaking kit for their school which includes a Canon DSLR camera, tripod and clapperboard.

The winners will be decided by an expert panel which includes:

• Catherine McAllister, Head of Safeguarding and Child Protection at BBC Children’s
• David Austin OBE, Chief Executive of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC)
• Joanna van der Meer, Film Tutor and Family Learning Programmer at BFI Southbank
• Lisa Prime, Children’s Events Programmer at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)

Inquiry into the impact of social media and screen-use on young people’s health launched

The Commons Science and Technology Committee has announced an inquiry into the impact of social media and screen-use on young people’s health. The committee says it wants to hear the views of young people themselves, as well as of teachers and youth workers.

Chairman, Norman Lamb, said it was vital to assess the benefits and risks; “Social media and smartphones are increasingly being used by children and young people. We want to determine the scale of the issues – separating out the understandable concerns from the hard evidence, and to identify what practical measures people are already taking to boost the benefits and blunt the potential harms. We want to hear from schools and young people, as well as from the industry and government.”

The committee is particularly keen to hear details of any initiatives undertaken, by children, schools and youth organisations, to help young people cope with the demands of the digital world.

Other issues the MPs would welcome thoughts on include:

• the wellbeing benefits from social media usage, including any apps that provide mental-health benefits to users
• the physical or mental harms from social media use and screen-use, including safety risks and the extent of any addictive behaviour
• any measures being used, or needed, to mitigate any potential harmful effects of excessive screen-use
• what monitoring, controls or regulation are needed and where responsibility and accountability should lie for such measures
• areas that should be the focus of any further research

Schools, children and young people, professionals or other organisations who would like to submit written views to the inquiry should do so – in no more than 3,000 words – through the committee’s inquiry page by 6 April.

Schools and settings may find this to be a valuable opportunity to work together with children and young people, to explore their views and experiences in the online world and to formulate a response.

Online Safety Briefing: Term 3 2017-18 #esafety #onlinesafety

This is the 3rd edition (January-February) of the Kent Education Safeguarding Team’s Online Safety briefings 2017-18. The aim of these posts is to help Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) in educational settings keep up to date with of some of the emerging online safety issues and research which may be of interest.

The following links are not endorsed, controlled or promoted by Kent County Council. This briefing should not be shared or forwarded directly to pupils or parents/carers due to the sensitive and potentially distressing nature of some content.

Before sharing content that names specific apps or websites, we recommend DSLs access the following links:

• Online Safety Alert: Think before you scare
• Engaging parents in children’s use of apps
• UK Safer Internet Centre – Online Challenges: Advice for parents

National Updates

Articles and Research

General

• Ofsted:
  • Online safety webinar from the team in the South East region (YouTube)
  • Dan Ofsted, Her Majesty’s Inspector, on online safety (YouTube)
  • Online safety and how schools and parents work together (YouTube)
• Nine things you need to know about Generation Z
• BBC: Hinds says schools face digital challenge
• TES:
  • Schools ‘should teach children about the dangers of online sexual content’
  • School online safety recommendations from a decade ago still unmet, warns NSPCC

Gaming and Gambling

• Huffington Post:
  • Gaming Disorder Is Here, And It’s A Good Thing – Here’s Why
  • Gaming Disorder Is Real But Diagnosing It Properly Will Be Key
• New York Times: That Game on Your Phone May Be Tracking What You’re Watching on TV
• Connect Safely: Podcast: Interview with Roblox Founder & CEO David Baszucki

Peer on Peer Abuse 

• The Guardian:
  •  Bullying as damaging as child abuse – and needs same resources, expert says
  • Denmark split as row over teenage Facebook sex video widens

Professional Conduct

• TES: Teacher banned for having sex with pupil shortly after her final exam
• BBC: Teacher guilty of child sexual offence

Self Esteem and Mental Health 

• British Youth Council Youth Select Committee: A body confident future
• Huffington Post: Duchess Of Cambridge Backs Children’S Mental Health Campaign In Video Message

Sexual Abuse and Grooming

• National Crime Agency: Child sex offender targeted thousands of boys over social media
• BBC: Children could get online grooming ‘alerts’ – NSPCC
• The Conversation: The virtual door to online child sexual grooming is wide open
• The Guardian: The Finsbury Park attacker’s trial shows us how hate can grow

Social Media and Technology

• SWGfL: Logan Paul, YouTube and vloggers as role models
• Sky News: Theresa May to announce crackdown on social media abuse
•  BBC:
  • Is social media bad for you? The evidence and the unknowns
  • YouTube cuts ties with Logan Paul over Japan suicide video
  • Logan Paul ‘more popular’ than Zoella with children
  • The end of watching TV as a family
  • Facebook moderator: I had to be prepared to see anything
• Common Sense Media: Talking to Kids About YouTube Celebs Who Cross the Line
• Huffington Post: Rather Than Asking If Social Media Is The Problem, Let’s Ask What The Screen Reflects
• The Daily Mail:  Smartphones and apps can be GOOD for family life because they help parents and children keep in touch, say scientists
• The Guardian:
  • Secondary school pupils ‘ill-equipped to cope’ with stress of social media
  • Apple plans ‘more robust’ parental tools after iPhone addiction claims
  • My internet usage is getting harder to manage and worrying me. What should I do?
  • How YouTube’s algorithm distorts reality – video

Educational Content

Teaching Materials, Tools and Videos

• UKCCIS Education for a Connected World: A framework to equip children and young people for digital life (EYFS/KS1/KS2/KS3/KS4)
• Children’s Mental Health Week (Ks1/2/3/4)
• CEOP Think U Know:
  • Celebrities apologise for offensive tweets (KS3)
  • Following digital footprints (KS3)
• PSHE Association and CIFAS: Anti-Fraud Education lesson plans (KS3/4)
• Avatar Maker (KS2/3)
• Law Stuff: Online Safety Advice (KS2/3/4)
• Diana Awards and Ask.FM: Exploring identity online and coping with online pressure (KS4)
• BBC Newsround: (KS2/3)
  • What you need to know about the latest hacking threat
  • Report says social media really impacts you when you move to secondary school
  • Could the toys you’re playing with have been hacked?
  • YouTube Kids app still showing disturbing videos
  • Emojis: New list includes a redhead at last

Resources for Parent/Carers

• Childnet: Advice for parents – what to do if your child sees something upsetting online
• SWGfL: Parenting in a Digital Age: Call simulator apps, it’s your call
• NSPCC: Playtime with Pantosaurus free app for iOS and Android
• Internet Matters: Digital Resilience toolkits 
• O2 and NSPCC: Advice on Online Issues
• O2 Small Talks videos (YouTube)
• Huffington Post: Prince William Speaks To Kids About Cyberbullying: Advice For Parents

Articles

• Parenting for a digital future:
  • Gender roles in ICT parenting
  • Children and virtual reality: Where do we stand?
• The Washington Post: Are you following the same digital rules you set for your kids?
• Dr Mark Griffiths: Screenage rampage: What should parents know about videogame playing for children?

Additional content is also featured on the Safer Internet Day 2018 round-up available here.