GGF Parenting Workshop – Safeguarding Children Online Seminar The aim of our courses is to increase parents’ knowledge, skills and confidence and enjoyment of the parenting role. Facilitator – Dupe Makinde Director – GGF

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What is Safeguarding? Protection, Precaution, Defence Safety measure Preserve Look after

Why Safeguard? (1) Physical abuse - violence causing injury or occurring regularly during childhood. Sexual abuse occurs when someone uses power or control to involve a child in sexual activity in order to gratify the abuser’s own sexual, emotional or financial needs or desires.

Why Safeguard? (2) Emotional abuse is persistent or severe emotional ill-treatment of a child that is likely to cause serious harm to his/her development. Neglect involves persistently failing to meet a child’s physical, psychological or emotional needs.

Dangers that our children face on the internet Cyberbullying Exposure to Pornography and other inappropriate content Befriending or communicating with people they don't know Grooming and sexual abuse Sexual Exploitation

Cyberbullying Bullying that takes place online or on social networks. It can be very damaging to a child's health. It can involve posting a picture and writing horrible comments about a person.

Facts about Inappropriate Contents 9500 web pages were removed by the Internet Watch Foundation worldwide in ,000 indecent images of children were reported to “The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre” in s of pro-eating disorder websites are estimated to exist. Sources: &

Damaging Effects of Pornography (1) 28% of 11 to 18 year olds feel that pornography has changed the way they think about relationships.* 475 counselling sessions were held by ChildLine in 2012/13 with young people who had been exposed to sexually explicit images, including pornographic videos or online content. *

Damaging Effects of Pornography (2) Pornography is as addictive as any drug. Addiction causes low self-confidence, an empty feeling and general uselessness. Pornography exposure contributes to sexual aggression in some users. Negative effects on healthy development and relationships. Distorted or twisted view of opposite gender.

BBC Newsbeat Survey Around half of 15 to 17-year-olds have accessed pornography on a smartphone or tablet, according to a survey seen by BBC Newsbeat. A charity suggested the rise in popularity of smartphones and tablets has made it easier to access porn.

“Young Minds” Feb 2014 Survey Survey questioned 2,000 people aged 11 to 25. The results show porn is having a "damaging impact" on young people. The survey suggests many people who watch porn think it has affected their relationships. Overall, 13% of those questioned said watching porn "definitely" had an effect.

“Young Minds” Feb 2014 Survey Answer FemaleMale No67.5%50%44.1%46.5%59.3%43.8% By accident11.8%13.4%9.7%6%8.9%11.4% Lots10%11.6%17.8%19%11.3%19.9% Once or twice 10.7%25%28.4% 20.5%24.9%

Befriending Strangers The percentage of online friends that children did not know outside of being online was: 12% for years olds in % for year olds in 2013 Source:

Grooming and Sexual abuse Grooming happens when someone builds a connection with a young person in order to sexually abuse them. It can happen on social networking sites, chat rooms and can also lead to face to face meetings between an adult and a child.

Sexual Exploitation (1) 1) Child sexual exploitation is when children and young people receive something (such as food, accommodation, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, affection, gifts, or money) as a result of performing, and/or others performing on them, sexual activities. 2) It can occur through the use of the internet or on mobile phones. 3) Most victims don’t come forward because of fear and the pain of their ordeal.

Sexual Exploitation (2) In 2013 Barnardo's services worked with 1,940 children and young people who had been sexually exploited. Vulnerable children are at risk of sexual exploitation. Younger victims (aged ) are being targeted. Perpetrators now use the internet to protect their identity.

Impact of Sexual Exploitation Victims are at risk of: Sexual abuse and/or violence, such as sexual assault or rape Physical harm Mental health problems Substance misuse and/or overdose Suicide attempts Teenage pregnancy Isolation from family and friends Lack of education and/or poor grades at school.

Why do children go online? To connect with friends and make new ones Search for information or content on search engines Chat with others Play Games Share images and watch videos Use social networking websites.

Social Media The average youth will watch more than 15,000 hours of television by the time they leave secondary school. They spend more than an average 38 hours a week listening to music, surfing the net, watching movies and playing video games. They will process 1.8 million media messages a year on average. Christian youth are similarly confronted with media messages that are not always affirming of their Christian values. Youth are especially targeted by the media because they are a more vulnerable and reachable demographic.

Keeping your child safe online (1) Find out what they use the internet and how they use. Take an active interest in what they are doing and who they communicate with. Discuss the danger of the internet with them. Install filtering software. Tell them not to believe everything they read online Tell them what they need to do about spam and junk s.

Keeping your child safe online (2) Encourage your child (min age is 13) to set their profile to private on Facebook. Make sure they are not spending excessive time on the internet. Set parental controls on search engines, you tube account and mobile phones. Visit Google home page and click on settings to change filtering options, Visit for step by step guides.

Parental Controls Filtering - restricts access to particular sites. Time limits – restricts the amount of time your child can be online. Monitoring – informs you of the sites that your child is attempting to access. Reporting – provides you with information about sites your child has visited.

Where to get them? Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) - major ISP’s provide parental control packages. Devices that connect to the internet. Software – look out for reputable companies and check out their reviews online. They are good but they have limits.

Protecting in a Digital World Set controls on TV to restrict specific channels. It can be useful to be on Facebook if your child is on Facebook. Ensure the mobile phone providers parental control services settings are switched on. If not, ask them to be switched on.

Games Consoles Microsoft Xbox 360 offers parental controls called Family Settings. Nintendo DS and DS Lite both use PIN systems. Nintendo WII offers parental controls for game playing and internet use. Both Sony Playstation 3 and Sony PSP have parental controls.

Useful Sites (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre)

Summary Dangers that our children face on the internet. Protecting our children. Know what they are up to online. Talk to them regularly about the dangers Set parental controls Update filtering software.

Planning for change There are 3 stages to making a change: 1) Awareness 2) Make specific written small plans. 3) Practise, practise, practise