At Heritage High School we are committed to promoting the safe and responsible use of the internet. Through the school’s PSHE programme, assemblies and guest speakers, we do our best to provide our scholars with the awareness and knowledge they need in order to recognise and avoid dangerous, destructive, or unlawful behaviour and to respond appropriately.
Please use this link to follow advice and guidance about keeping your child safe online and free access to Digital parenting
As part of our ongoing commitment to keeping our scholars safe, we would like to make families aware of new guidance from the National Crime Agency (NCA) and CEOP Education around online harm groups.
Online harm groups, sometimes referred to as “Com groups”, are groups of people who use online spaces to manipulate, pressure, threaten or exploit others. They can operate through messaging apps, gaming platforms, group chats, channels and online communities. Importantly, contact may initially appear friendly and can develop through shared interests, gaming or conversations before becoming harmful.
The NCA and CEOP guidance highlights that any young person can be targeted, regardless of their age, friendships or level of online experience. Young people may be pressured to keep conversations secret, share personal information or images, or carry out things that make them feel uncomfortable. Pressure can include being dared to prove themselves, being threatened or blackmailed, being made to feel guilty for saying no, or being repeatedly contacted after trying to end communication.
What can families do?
You do not need to be an expert in every app, game or online platform to support your child. The most important thing is to keep conversations open and regular and help your child recognise when something online does not feel right.
Please encourage your child to:
It is also important to remember that if a young person is targeted, pressured or harmed online, it is never their fault. Online harm groups can use grooming, manipulation, coercion and threats to control young people.
Further advice and support
The NCA and CEOP have produced dedicated guidance for parents and young people. We strongly encourage families to take a few minutes to look through these resources and use them as a starting point for conversations about online safety.
For families:
NCA/CEOP guidance for parents and carers on online harm groups
For young people aged 11–18:
NCA/CEOP guidance for 11–18 year olds on online harm groups
For professionals:
NCA/CEOP guidance for professionals working with children and young people
If you have concerns that your child has been targeted or harmed online, the guidance recommends staying calm, listening without judgement, reassuring your child that they are not to blame, and avoiding deleting potential evidence. Concerns can be reported to the police on 101, or 999 where there is an immediate risk of harm. Under-18s can also report online sexual abuse to the CEOP Safety Centre.
At Heritage High School, safeguarding is at the forefront of everything we do. We will continue to work with students and families to promote safe, respectful and responsible use of technology and to help our young people recognise when something online does not feel right.
A database of protection advice on a range of online activities. Ranging from social media to online shopping.
Online Sexual Harassment Advice
Online Safety Monthly Videos
To support families to deal with the issues surrounding e-safety, the internet and social media, the academy would like to highlight the following site:
Common Sense media is an advice service for forms of media entertainment. Users can input the age of their children review a range of age appropriate media content.
Additionally, we would like to make you aware that the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) has published a short guide for parents/carers whose children are using social media.
Children will often “add” unknown people to social media accounts. It is becoming increasingly familiar to hear that young children are having social media accounts. There are age restrictions on most Apps and sites for a reason.
Youtube, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Skype and Twitter are all 13 years.
Whats App is 16 years. To create accounts children have to create a birthdate that allows them to be old enough. By doing this they are putting themselves at risk.
The Snapchat app lets you send photos, short videos or messages to your friends. Pictures and videos, known as ‘Snaps’, usually appear temporarily before disappearing, though they can be captured via screenshots.
For further details please click on the link below
Meow Chat is a social network that allows you to have chats with strangers in a public chat room, with the option to then move into a private conversation, or to chat with other people based on their location.
67% of the children and young people asked by the NSPCC thought Meow Chat was risky. The top concern was talking to strangers.
The fact the GPS uses the location to match up people for conversations places children and young people at additional risk.
Chatroulette is a website which lets you talk to another person anywhere in the world. When you go onto the site, Chatroulette connects you to someone at random. You can talk to people via video or text. You have the opportunity to move onto the next person.
100% of the children and young people asked by the NSPCC think Chatroulette can be risky. The top concern was:
There are reports that people can be seen masturbating, using it for sexual activity or “hanging man” which are all inappropriate images for children and young people. The hanging man is literally you see a person from the torso down apparently dangling making it look like they are hanging.
Whatsapp is an instant messaging app, which lets you send messages, images and videos to friends. You can have one to one and group conversations. WhatsApp lets users send text messages, audio messages, videos, and photos to one or many people with no message limits or fees.
15% of the children and young people asked by the NSPCC think WhatsApp can be risky. The top concerns were:
It’s for users 16 and over. Lots of younger teens seem to be using the app, but this age minimum has been set by WhatsApp. It can be pushy. After you sign up, it automatically connects you to all the people in your address book who also are using WhatsApp. It also encourages you to add friends who haven’t signed up yet.
Tumblr is a social networking site that lets you share text, photos, quotes, links, audio clips, slideshows and videos. And you can customise your page and share other people’s posts. You can also send private messages.
It’s a cross between a blog and Twitter: It’s a streaming scrapbook of text, photos, and/or videos and audio clips. Users create and follow short blogs, or “tumblogs,” that can be seen by anyone online (if made public). Many teens have tumblogs for personal use: sharing photos, videos, musings, and things they find funny with their friends. However,
46% of the children and young people asked by NSPCC think Tumblr can be risky. The top concerns were:
Inappropriate material is easy to find. This online hangout is hip and creative but sometimes raunchy. Pornographic images and videos and depictions of violence, self-harm, drug use, and offensive language are easily searchable.
Privacy can be guarded but only through an awkward workaround. The first profile a member creates is public and viewable by anyone on the Internet. Members who desire full privacy have to create a second profile, which they’re able to password-protect.
Posts are often copied and shared. Reblogging on Tumblr is similar to re-tweeting: A post is reblogged from one tumblog to another. Many children like — and, in fact, want — their posts reblogged. But do you really want your children’s words and photos on someone else’s page?
Omegle is a social networking site that randomly connects you to another person who is on the site. It lets you talk to them in a one-to-one audio or video conversation. You can both appear as anonymous, unless you decide to share your personal information.
Being anonymous can be very attractive to children, and Omegle provides a no-fuss opportunity to make connections. Its “interest boxes” also let users filter potential chat partners by shared interests.
89% of the children and young people in the NSPCC survey asked think Omegle can be risky. The top 3 concerns were:
Users get paired up with strangers. That’s the whole premise of the app. And there’s no registration required.
This is not an app for children and teens. Omegle is filled with people searching for sexual chat. Some prefer to do so live. Others offer links to porn sites.
Language is a big issue. Since the chats are anonymous, they’re often much more explicit than those with an identifiable user might be.
Please take time to check what your child is doing on line. Keep them safe.
Issue 2
Issue 3
Issue 4
Issue 5
Issue 6
Issue 7
Issue 8
