From Durham Constabulary’s Cyber Protect Team: 25th March 2020
In recent years the internet has become an integral part of our children’s lives and it can be hard for parents to keep up with developments and to know the best way to keep their child safe online.
In school, we deliver a planned, progressive e-Safety curriculum with key messages appropriate to your child’s age. Visit our e-Safety advice for children page, to learn more about the key messages we teach and website resources we use.
Visit our School Policies page to download our e-Safety Policy.
Visit the sites below for lots of useful information about how to keep safe online.
UK Safer Internet Centre 
The UK safer Internet Centre site is full of useful information about keeping yourself and your family safe online. They update their information frequently, keeping up to date with ever evolving apps and crazes. They have recently published information on using the Pokemon Go app and on keeping safe in the summer holidays. The site also includes useful information about using social media safely. Click the links below to visit the relevant pages.
Pokemon Go – Advice for parents
Staying Safe Online this Summer
Facebook Checklist
Instagram Checklist
Snapchat Checklist
Twitter Checklist
Get Safe Online
It seems that online crime is in the news almost every day and criminals are becoming ever more sophisticated. Criminals are very clever and anyone can become a victim. Get Safe online is a website for adults containing lots of information about how to avoid online crime when using the internet and how to keep yourself and your family safe. It also contains details of current scams and how to avoid them and is well worth visiting on a regular basis. 
Internet Matters
Internet Matters is a not-for-profit organisation working with online safety experts to bring you all the information you need to keep your children safe online. The site includes advice on important e-safety issues; news and advice from industry experts; guidance on setting parental controls and filters on a wide range of devices; reviews of the latest technology and apps.
The NSPCC has recently launched their Net aware site. It is a well designed site that is easy to navigate and gives parents up to date information about social network sites their child may be using. You can also register to ensure you receive information as soon as it is published.
Vodafone Digital Parenting 
Vodafone have developed an excellent website called Digital Parenting that contains lots of advice about keeping children safe on line. It includes instructions for setting up parental controls on a wide variety of devices (under the ‘How To’ tab) and a wealth of information about keeping safe online for all generations. It is well worth checking out!
Cyberbullying 
Cyberbullying can be devastating for children as it can be difficult to escape from. Children should be encouraged to discuss their problems with an adult. One of the most common reasons they do not do this is that they fear their phone or computer/ tablet will be taken away from them, so it is important that you let your child know this will not happen and that they can talk to you about any problems they have. The Childline website contains helpful information about cyberbullying and ways to help stop it that you can discuss with your child. The government have recently produced a useful leaflet on cyberbullying that can be downloaded by clicking the link below.
Advice_for_Parents_on_Cyberbullying_
Children are growing up in a world with a bigger range of online activities than ever before and it is sometimes very hard for both children and adults to know how to stay safe.
Parents/Online Safety Information
Most parents will want to reduce the risks to their children, and remembering to set parental controls can reduce the risks to children, and reduce the risk to parents when children accidentally spend online money! The internet matters website explains this quite well. Online safety is not just about protecting children from some of the dangers of the internet – it is also about helping them manage their use of technology and most of the parental controls allow adults to set a maximum time for the use of a device or app.
Internet Matters is a site paid for by many British companies. It has a lot of good advice on adding parental controls as well as on most aspects of online safety. Parental controls will only help keep children safe. The best safety feature that a child has is their parent or carer. Take the time to talk to your child about the apps and games they are using and don’t be afraid to say no sometimes!
The range of online apps changes on a regular basis and the NSPCC have a site called Net Aware. This provides unbiased up-to-date information on current apps and sites along with advice to parents about dealing with issues.
The NSPCC have teamed up with O2 to provide advice to parents and have a free helpline on 0808 800 5002. They will also give support in any O2 shop – you do not have to be an O2 customer.
ThinkUKnow is the website aimed at children and their parents from the National Crime Agency. It has lots of useful suggestions and advice on how to report issues. It also has lots of games and activities including Jessie and Friends for the younger children and Band Runner for the older ones.
For the youngest children being tricked into sharing pictures can be an issue. LGfL have produced a lovely free video which has some great advice and a very catchy song!
Many children will at times suffer from online bullying. It is really important that they have someone they can talk to and know that it is not acceptable. Most apps and sites will have systems inn place that allow bullying to be reported. Your child’s school may be able to help.
Children can call Childline on 0800 1111 for advice on anything that is worrying them.
Finally since 2015 is has been a criminal offence for an adult to send a message with sexual content to a child (This is Section 67 of the Serious Crime Act 2015). If you are concerned that this might have happened please contact The Police without further using the device. This will help ensure that evidence can be preserved. The Police can be contacted by phone or from the ThinkUKnow website.
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