1. Safeguarding Children Online
Tim Dumbleton

2. Understanding the issue – what the evidence shows
Home Secretary’s Task Force
Education sub-group
Developments from Becta

3. Could the following situations occur?
‘Staff subject to cyber bullying attacks by their Year 6 pupils’
‘Teacher downloading adult pornography on the school’s laptop’
‘Young person gained access to friend’s ‘My Space’ to send abusive messages using false identity’
‘12 year-old arranges to meet adult who has been sending her sexually explicit texts’
‘Teacher grooms child online whilst sexually abusing another child in his school’
‘Mobile phone used to video oral sex between pupils – images put on website’
‘Volunteer involved in ‘internet café’ alleged to have abused young person’
Unfortunately, they already have…
List taken from Dudley Safeguarding Children Board ‘SafER’ Newsletter, Sept 2007

4. Children’s experience of technology
Complete integration of technology with social activities
Technology is more central to learning, having fun, socialising, shopping...
...but do children and young people understand:
how someone else can use information they give out?
who content will be shared with?
how long information will stay in the online world?
what the real-world consequences of online actions can be?

5. How does e-safety relate to safeguarding?
Content - sexual, racist, violent, unreliable/bigoted views...
Commerce - scams, phishing and pharming, bluejacking, downloads which steal information– children’s and parents!
Contact - via interactive technologies – the ubiquitous mobile phone, IM, chat, multiplayer games...
Culture – cyberbullying, camera phones, blogging, social networking...

6. Content
UK Children Go Online survey (UKCGO): 57% of young people have come into contact with online pornography…
...but only 16% of parents think that their child has seen pornography on the internet.
Glorifying violence – street gang videos on YouTube
Misleading/inciteful information -

7. Contact
46% of children have given out some form of personal information online (but only 5% of parents were aware of this) (UKCGO)
Online social networking opportunities are increasing....
...along with pressure to share information to add to ‘friends’ lists
There are more ways than ever before of directly contacting children (mobile phones, MSN/Skype, online networks, virtual worlds...)

8. Positive impacts on e-safety
Widening access to services
Providing specific support for people with particular needs (eg. Traveller children, young carers)
Improving physical and online security and access management
Tracing and recording digital evidence

9. Home Secretary’s Task Force on Child Protection and the Internet
Task Force structure
Home Secretary’s Task Force on Child Protection and the Internet
Aim: “to make the UK the best and safest place in the world for children to use the internet”
Membership/representation
Government, child protection agencies, police and industry (such as ISPA, BT Yahoo)

10. Task Force progress Outputs:
Led to establishment of Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) in 2006
Industry guidance/best practice:
Good Practice Guidance for the Moderation of Interactive Services for Children
Good Practice Guidance for Search Service Providers and Advice to the Public on How to Search Safely
Guidance for Using Real Life Examples Involving Children or Young People
Social networking services guidance – expected Dec 07
Education and awareness campaigns:
thinkuknow.co.uk

11. Education sub-group Areas of responsibility Aim
The primary purpose of the group is advisory and strategic with a key role in influencing developments in the safe use of ICT across the education sectors.
Aim
Advise on emerging issues and trends (educational, technological and other related areas e.g. child protection, legal and criminal) which may affect the safe use of ICT in education.

12. Sub-group membership AOC Nilta ADCS Barnardos Becta (chair) C2K
Cabinet Office
CEOP
Childnet International
CHIS (Children’s charities coalition)
DCSF Safeguarding team
Family Online Safety Institute
ITTE
Internet Watch Foundation
Kent LA
LSC
Naace
Learning & Teaching Scotland
National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations
NGFL
NSPCC
Ofcom
Ofsted
QCA
TDA
Ukerna
Welsh Assembly

13. Impacts of the sub-group
Inputting advice on e-safety into the Home Access Taskforce
Joint submission to the Staying Safe consultation
Will be discussing effective ways of engaging parents based on CEOP’s recent TV campaign

14. How to engage effectively with ‘industry’?
Sub-group engagement
How to engage effectively with ‘industry’?
ISPs
Online services
Management/monitoring systems
Learning Platform service providers
Educational content providers
Content for mobile platforms...

15. Becta’s progress to date...
MOU with CEOP
Meetings with regional government, LSCB Directors and Business Managers, ADCS...
Feeding in to the Allegations review, Staying Safe consultation and the Byron Review
Draft review on extending accreditation of internet service to education scheme

16. What role can LSCBs play?
Crucial focal point for bringing e-safety into mainstream safeguarding policies
Oversight and co-ordination of ‘core messages’ about e-safety
Develop key partnerships,
eg. between services who can communicate with families and those that can provide relevant training/support
Support consistency across services
eg. appropriate training for all staff working with children

17. PIES model: elements to address in e-safety plans
See: Safeguarding Children in a digital world - Page 18 17

18. Resources to support e-safety
Safetynet discussion list – peer support, access to experienced advisers
Online safety issues: a guide for developers
Safeguarding children online: a guide for LSCBs

19. Digizen
‘Let’s fight it together’ video available online
Cyberbullying guidance for schools
Research into children’s use of social networking

20. UK Children Go Online
‘..the risks do not merit a moral panic, and nor do they warrant seriously restricting children’s internet use because this would deny them the many benefits of the internet. Indeed, there are real costs to lacking internet access or sufficient skills to use it.’
‘However, the risks are nonetheless widespread, they are experienced by many children as worrying or problematic, and they do warrant serious intervention by government, educators, industry and parents.’