Safer Internet Use Information and Advice Evening for Parents and Carers 2019

Risks and Opportunities The Internet gives children access across the globe in seconds, this opens up superb opportunities but there are also lots of risks that come with this freedom.

Opportunities Global contact with family and friends. Research and knowledge. Sharing interests.

Risks Cyberbullying Victim of crime Lowering self-esteem Distraction

Research carried out at EPA Research carried out at EPA asked three main questions? What are the positives of social media? What are the negatives? How can we safeguard pupils against the risks social media brings?

Positives of social media Spiritual: self-regulation, freedom of expression. Physical: rest and relaxation time. Intellectual: wealth of information, swapping ideas. Emotional: can raise self-esteem, feel less isolated. Social: feeling connected with those near and far.

Negatives of social media Spiritual: making choices that lead to harm, either for themselves or others. Physical: loss of sleep, organised fights / physical bullying, sexual exploitation Intellectual: distraction from learning at home and school. Emotional: self-esteem/body image, mature subjects, cyberbullying, FOMO. Social: negative relationships, arguments, acting older – role models.

Safeguarding The pupils felt that social media issues were for their parents to sort out and deal with not the school. They wanted us to talk to you! They said that assemblies, lessons and form activities were useful and raise awareness of the issues. They wanted to talk to older pupils.

Grooming Friend requests and the need for “friends” and “followers.” CSE Radicalisation and extremism Everyone is at risk but some pupils are more vulnerable than others.

Gaming Breck Bednar – groomed and murdered by a 19-year-old. Bullying online during games. Distraction from sleep. Distraction from learning.

Tone and Content The tone during group chats and comments is missing and therefore often misinterpreted. This can and does lead to arguments. Access to mature content is an issue, whether it is sexual or violent, pupils are exposed to aggressive and explicit images.

Longevity The longevity of comments made is often missed by pupils. An unkind comment can play on someone’s mind for months. It can come back to haunt you years later and cost you an opportunity.

Parental Involvement If your child is experiencing difficulties on social media do not be tempted to get involved online. Report the abusive comments to the social media company. Report the abuse to the police. If appropriate – report the incident to the school.

Parental Involvement Screen Time App

Advice given to pupils

Legal Issues Every time you send a text or use social media technology your message or post is saved – even after you delete it the police can still retrieve it should they need to do so as part of a criminal investigation. 2) Cyber-bullying is a crime, as is bullying itself, here is what the Metropolitan Police say: “Some types of bullying are illegal and should be reported to us. This includes bullying that involves: harassment and intimidation over a period of time including calling someone names or threatening them, making abusive phone calls, and sending abusive emails or texts (one incident is not normally enough to get a conviction), also anything involving hate crimes.”

Offensive Posts Cyber-bullying is making offensive posts and sending offensive messages over a sustained period of time (not a one-off). Whilst not all offensive posts are cyber-bullying they do cause a great deal of upset and worry among friendship groups. Think carefully before you post something – once it is said it is out there forever. Remember that in future an employer may look over your social media posts to see if you are the type of person they wish to employ.

Sexting “Sexting is when someone sends or receives a sexually explicit text, image or video on their mobile phone.” If an adult sends a sexually explicit image of themselves to a partner, they are trusting that the person receiving the image will not share it with others. Sadly not everyone can be trusted and many adults find themselves humiliated by a naked image that just won’t go away. Remember – things can be shared very fast on the Internet and once the image is out there it is almost impossible to eradicate it, in other words it will always be out there somewhere.

Sexting – Under 18 Having sexting photos or videos on your phone or computer of people under the age of 18 is against the law. Under 18 the law sees you as a child. Therefore, if you have any indecent images or videos of somebody who is under 18 you would technically be in possession of an indecent image of a child – even if you are the same age. This is an offence under the Protection of Children Act 1978 and the Criminal Justice Act 1988. 

Sexting – Under 18 Even if you take a picture of yourself naked and send it to someone without being pressured to do so by anyone else , you have still created an indecent image of a child. However – in this situation you are likely to need some support. You will find the Heads of Year very supportive in helping you to deal with the repercussions of your decision to send the image. That said they would much rather you didn’t get yourself into that situation.