Online safety for Parents and Carers

As a Parent or Carer we understand you will have worries about children or young people accessing the internet. We have worked to include age appropriate materials in each of the areas of the Growing up in Orkney website we aim to help keep children and young people safe. Below is a video designed for Parents and Carers from Scottish Government which talks about Online Safety.

Parent Club is a helpful website created by Scottish Government, in the website they have an area you may find helpful for keeping children safe online. This space is called Online Behaviour and Safety.

We have gathered all of the materials for you here for you so you can see all that is available as a Parent or Carer, for example we explain:

The internet is a great place to have fun and learn, however there are a few things to be aware of.

• Keep your personal information private – check your privacy settings so that only people you want to see your stuff can see it
• Learn how to block people/ accounts that you don’t know to stop them from being able to chat or message you
• Remember that once you share photographs with another person then you lose control of them. Never share any photographs that might be embarrassing or upsetting for you or other people if they were to be made public.
• Have a think about what you post and say online. What you think is funny now may affect you in the future
• Always use a nickname instead of your real name.  For example, instead of ‘Mark_Smith’, choose something unusual like “Sk8King_21”.
• If you see anything on a website that upsets you, turn off the screen and tell an adult you trust
• Avoid opening pop-ups as much as possible.
• If someone you have only had contact with online asks you to meet them in person, tell an adult you trust
• People online may not be what they seem. It’s better to only interact with people you know in the real world
• If you see abuse – report it!

More information about staying safe online and reporting crimes can be found on the Police Scotland Youth Hub website, the ThinkuKnow website and in our ‘How to stay safe online‘ blog post.

Resources for Children up to 11 years old

Parker the Parrot’s story really helps us to think about why it is important to keep safe.  Here are some resources you can look at with your parent, carer or other trusted adult to help you keep safe:

• If you are aged between 4 and 7, you can play a game with Jessie to see how you can stay safe when you are online.
• If you are aged between 8 and 10, you can play a game with Alfie, Allie, Sam and the Popcorn Wizards to find out about staying safe online.
• You can also visit the Childline site for under 12s, where you’ll find fun games with lots of information about keeping safe and feeling good in yourself.

Resources for People ages 12 and over

Making your way through life as a young person can be hard and there have been and currently are a lot of challenges that previous generations did not have to contend with such as the Covid pandemic, the widespread introduction of the internet, social media, mobile phones and most recently, AI (artificial intelligence).  It is harder than ever to know what is true online, who you might be speaking with over text or chat and what it is okay to share or not share online.  Staying safe in real life can be difficult too.  The resources below provide advice and support for young people.

Young people have told professionals that they worry about friendships, relationships, their mental health and issues like sharing ‘nudes’. The next two websites provide lots of information about these issues.

First up is Childline: as well as running a helpline for children and young people, the Childline website has lots of good articles, games and advice on keeping safe and supporting your mental and emotional health.

Next is CEOP’s website for young people: CEOP is always working to make the internet safer for children and young people and provide sound advice and has lots of information to help you stay safe.

There is also Report-Remove: if you have shared a ‘nude’ with someone and they have shared it online, this website provides a confidential way to help you have your photo taken down from the internet if you are under 18 years of age.  Please do not panic if this happens to you – it is not your fault and you are not to blame. Visit Report-Remove for further information and watch their short video about how it works:

Information for parents, carers and practitioners

Things for parents and carers to consider…

• Set some ground rules. This is especially important when your child first starts using social media. It is a good idea to discuss with your child what is and what is not allowed. For example, you may allow them to have an Instagram account but only if the account is private and your child only accepts friends they know in real life.
• Know how to use the safety tools and privacy settings. Talk to your child about how to find blocking and reporting tools and privacy settings on the apps that they are using . You should also make sure your child knows how – and how not – to treat other people online. Something that seems like a harmless joke to one group of friends could end up really hurting someone else.
• Report any concerning contact. Make sure that your child knows that it is important to make you aware of any upsetting or inappropriate contact that is made with them online. Similarly, if they witness anything concerning, they should make you aware of it. Report any concerns you might have regarding inappropriate contact or approaches made to your child.
• Bullying behaviour . Some people do use social media specifically to bully others. Fortunately, the majority of major social media platforms come with tools for blocking other users and reporting abuse. If your child is subject to bullying behaviour online;
• Tell your child not to respond to any communication they receive, and as a parent, do not respond to anything you might see.
• Block the other person.
• Report the comments or behaviours using the tools in the platform.
• Keep a copy of any concerning comments
• If the problem continues and escalates, or if threats are received, seek advice from Police Scotland.
• Keep the conversation going and stay involved. Talk to your child about the apps they are using and their general online activity, in the same way that you would monitor their offline world.

Further Information and Advice

• The Child Exploitation and On-line Protection Centre (CEOP) works with child protection partners across the UK and overseas to identify and detect threats to children and young people.
• Web surfers who see any illegal images on the internet can report this to the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF).
• Internet Matters is a not-for-profit organisation that aims to help parents and carers keep children safe in the digital world.
• Parentzone is an online safety guide for families which contains information and advice covering a wide range of issues and concerns.
• Childline – Information and advice for children and young people
• Childnet – Information, advice and resources for children, young people, parents and professionals
• BBC Own It – Help, advice, information and support for young people