Online Safety Advice
Article 17: (Access to information; mass media) Children have the right to information that is important to their health and well-being.
Online safety
If you are a parent or carer, we hope you will find the web links below useful.
If you have any concerns , questions or wish to seek advice regarding your or your child's use of the online world, or technology, please don't hesitate to come to school with your questions.
Is your child chatting to a real friend - or an AI chatbot? |
AI Chatbots are built into platforms children are using every day on their phones and other devices. Research from Internet Matters, shows that two-thirds of children are using AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Snapchat's My AI, character ai and others, and they're being used for schoolwork, to seek advice and even for companionship*.
Chatbots interact in a human-like way, they are always available, are friendly and non-judgemental, and use empathetic language - which can make children feel acknowledged and understood. However, this makes it harder for children to recognise that they're interacting with a tool rather than a real person. Chatbots are not real and their responses cannot always be trusted.
Also, they're often not designed with children in mind - most lack safety settings or parental controls. So if children ask for advice on sensitive topics, the lack of age checks plus inconsistent filtering mean they may be presented with responses that are inappropriate for their age.
To help you get to grips with what AI chatbots are, and for advice and tips on how you can help your children use them safely, check out Internet Matters new AI information hub. |
Advice For Parents on Cyber Bullying
CEOP News and articles surrounding Internet safety.
Action For Children Action for Children supports and speaks out for the UK's most vulnerable and neglected children and young people.
Department for Education Articles and advice for children and young people
Department for Education Articles and advice for children and young people
Think U Know Great advice to keep children safe whilst using the Internet.
YouTube: what parents need to know.
Kids can't get enough of Youtube. Read NCA-CEOP's comprehensive guide to everything parents need to know about it YouTube is a modern-day phenomenon – a video sharing service owned by Google and enjoyed by millions throughout the world every day.
‘52% of young people questioned said they would recommend a friend watch YouTube to cheer themselves up’.
Children and young people love YouTube – so much so that last year, Google launched a special child-friendly version, YouTube Kids, aimed at children under 13.
In a survey by Parent Zone, 52% of young people questioned said they would recommend a friend watch YouTube to cheer themselves up if they were feeling down.
Yet among all those cute cat videos, there is challenging and sometimes disturbing content that may be unsuitable for children and young people.
Click on the link below to read NCA-CEOP's comprehensive guide to everything parents need to know about YouTube.
Further reading
YouTube Kids: a parent’s guide
The advice published on Parent Info is provided by independent experts in their field and not necessarily the views of Parent Zone or NCA-CEOP.
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Parents and Carers play a key role in supporting children to learn about how to stay safe online, and they are one of the first people children turn to if things go wrong. We know that it can be difficult to stay on top of the wide range of sites and devices that young people use, so we hope that the following advice helps.
Four Steps:
1. Have ongoing conversations with your children about staying safe online.
2. Use safety tools on social networks and other online services, eg. Facebook privacy settings.
3. Decide if you want to use parental controls on your home internet.
4. Understand devices and the parental tools they offer in 'Parents' Guide to Technology'.
What are the key online risks? (Safer Internet UK)
Contact: Children can be contacted by bullies or people who groom or seek to abuse them.
Content: age-inappropriate or unreliable content can be available to children.
Conduct: children may be at risk because of their own behaviour, for example, by sharing too much information.
Commercialism: young people can be unaware of hidden costs and advertising in apps, games and websites.
Please see below for a range of useful resources for teachers, parents and children.
Safety Cards 220 - Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok, Netflix
Click on the icons below to find out ways in which you can keep your child safe online:-
SMART rules
