Online Safety Briefing: Term 3 (January – February 2018-19)

This is the 2018-19 Term 3 (January- February) edition of the Kent Education Safeguarding Team’s Online Safety briefings, which aim to help Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) in educational settings keep up to date with emerging online safety issues, as well as resources and research.

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

Before sharing content that name 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

General Content

• PSHE Association:
  • Episode 1 - Selecting and working with visitors and speakers
    • Selecting External Visitors Podcast – direct link
• Parenting for a Digital Future:
  • Social Media in the classroom developing new student-centred learning
  • Digital natives or naïve experts? Exploring how Norwegian children understand the internet
• TES:
  • 'Embrace social media – but don’t be a slave to it'
  • Calls grow for schools to teach lessons on porn
• BBC:
  • Obscene porn rules relaxed in England and Wales
  • Smartphones in school: Ban, restrict or allow?
  • School labelled 'Hell on Earth' on Google Maps
• SWGfL: New Swiggle protects children as they take their first Net steps

 ‘Addiction’ and Screen time

• BBC:
  • Worry less about children's screen use, parents told
  • Reality Check: Why did child screen advice not go further?
• TES:
  • 'Screens have taken possession of us all: teachers, students, parents'
  • MPs call for teachers’ views on addictive online gaming
• Dr Mark Griffiths: Eight days a week: Survival in the age of the ‘always on’ culture
• Department of Health and Social Care: UK Chief Medical Officers’ (CMO) commentary on ‘Screen-based activities and children and young people’s mental health and psychosocial wellbeing

Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation

• Sky News: Massive increase in web pages of child abuse being identified and removed from the internet
• BBC: 'I was groomed on Grindr when I was 15'
• The Telegraph: Cyber sex crimes against children have trebled in three years, NSPCC warns

Criminal Exploitation

• The Guardian: 'County lines' drug gangs tracking children via social media

Cyberbullying

• The Telegraph: WhatsApp groups for parents become overrun with 'vitriolic tirades', leading headmaster warns
• BBC:
  • Disability hate crime: Katie Price backed by MPs over online abuse
  • Real-life trolling: When a 'roast' becomes harassment

Cybercrime

• BBC:
  • Fortnite teen hackers 'earning thousands of pounds a week'
  • The teenage 'white hat' hacker getting rich legally
  • I was a teenage 'money mule'
  • UK cyber-crime victims lose £190,000 a day
• Sky News: How fraudsters are scamming teenage 'money mules' on Instagram and Snapchat

Gaming and Gambling

• BBC:
  • Gaming worth more than video and music combined
  • How the UK became a major player in the gaming world
  • Boy, 13, encouraged to 'gamble' by YouTuber
• The Independent:
  • How children playing Fortnite are helping to fuel organised crime
  • No evidence playing violent video games leads to aggressive behaviour in teens, study finds
• The Guardian: Gambling ads to be banned from child-friendly sites and games

Information Governance, Privacy and Data

• Sky News: Staying off social media is not enough to protect your privacy, study says
• The Guardian: Why you shouldn’t post photos of friends without permission
• BBC: Children's smartwatch recalled over data fears
• That’s Nonsense: How your photos may be revealing your address to strangers

Mental Health 

• BBC:
  • 'It's a presentation of people's lives - not reality'
  • Blue Whale: What is the truth behind an online 'suicide challenge'?
  • Instagram: Girl tells how she was 'hooked' on self-harm images
  • Self-harm, suicide and social media: Can you talk about them online safely?
• The Guardian:
  • Depression in girls linked to higher use of social media
  • What are social media companies doing about suicidal posts?
  • Faking it: how selfie dysmorphia is driving people to seek surgery
  • Social media urged to take 'moment to reflect' after girl's death
  • Blaming Instagram is too easy: politicians must do more to help teens
• TES:
  • 'Suicide is complex: the media must be careful reporting it'
  • 'Social media is not the sole cause of youth suicide'
• The Conversation: Self-harm and social media: a knee-jerk ban on content could actually harm young people

Professional Conduct

• TES:
  • 'Teachers abusing other teachers online is not OK'
  • Banned: Teacher who had sexual activity with two pupils
  • Banned: Teacher who sent ex-pupils late-night flirtatious emails
• The Guardian: Female nursery worker, 18, jailed for sexually abusing children

'Sexting’, Sexual Harassment and Violence

• Huffington Post: Upskirting is finally going to be made illegal
• BBC:
  • Rise in nude photos sent to phones on public transport
  • Hampshire sexting victim felt she was 'in a zoo'
• Gov.uk: Upskirting: know your rights

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

• LSE: Children with special educational needs and disabilities more likely to encounter harm online, say parents

Social Media and Technology

• TES: Let’s face it, social media isn’t going anywhere
• Parenting for a Digital Future: The social implications of teens leaving Facebook
• The Conversation: Touchscreens can benefit toddlers – but it’s worth choosing your child’s apps wisely
• The Guardian:
  • Going viral: the victims of online conspiracy theories
  • How social media is inspiring children to save the natural world
  • Don't know your James Charles from Zoella? Get with YouTube celebrity culture
  • Teens don’t need us to save them from the evils of technology
  • Instagram: beware of bad influencers…
• BBC:
  • YouTube influencers: Inside the weird world of social media burnout
  • YouTube bans dangerous or harmful pranks
  • Social media stars agree to declare when they post ads
  • 'How to moderate online content'
  • Made In Chelsea's Andy Jordan: Being an influencer made me 'a puppet'
• Dr Mark Griffiths: Snap chat: The psychology of selfies
• The Guardian: The internet, but not as we know it: life online in China, Cuba, India and Russia

Trust and Reliability

• That’s Nonsense: Why we shouldn’t share Facebook hoaxes “just in case”
• The Guardian: Facebook rolls out fact-checking operation to UK
• BBC: WhatsApp restricts message-sharing to fight fake news

Educational Content

Teaching Materials, Tools and Video

• BBC Newsround: Instagram egg: Kylie Jenner's most-liked record beaten

Articles for Parent/Carers

• The Guardian: Think twice before you share our faces online, say children
• The Telegraph: How can we monitor our teen's social media usage?'

Resources to share with parents/carers

• Parent Info:
  • Addicted to social media – or just teens being teens?
  • Low mood: a guide for parents
• NSPCC: TikTok: all you need to know
• Internet Matters:
  • Online consent & images sharing – Mum shares challenges of teaching teens to share safely
  • What is online consent and how can I discuss this with my child?
  • In the age of social media, how can I help my child maintain a positive body image?
  • How can I help my child manage their friendships online safely?
  • TikTok app safety – What parents need to know
  • How can I help my child best manage their screen time?