Top Tips for Supporting Children Who Are Experiencing Bullying

1st March 2024L Forster

The latest bullying research from the DfE makes for upsetting reading. Almost half (40%) of schoolchildren in the UK have been bullied within the past 12 months – with 21% of them experiencing negative changes to their behaviour, including avoiding going to school. In 15% of those cases, the victim’s behaviour suffers to the extent that they are ultimately excluded themselves.

Understanding and honest conversation can be an immense benefit to children who have become the target of bullying – but it’s such a delicate subject that it can often be hard for trusted adults to know where (or how) to start. Our #WakeUpWednesday guide this week contains ten practical tips for supporting a child who is experiencing bullying.

Bullying has long been a pervasive issue in schools – and, being realistic, it’s regrettably a problem which is always likely to exist to a certain extent. There are still plenty of steps we can take as trusted adults, however, to lend support, comfort and reassurance to children who are going through this deeply upsetting experience.

Such a highly emotive topic can be a difficult one to talk about with children – but honest, open communication nevertheless remains vital to young victims’ wellbeing. It’s important to be aware, then, of effective ways to broach and explore the subject. Our #WakeUpWednesday guide has expert advice on effective ways to support children who are being bullied.

https://nationalcollege.com/

E-Safety Information – Monkey

7th February 2024L Forster

Online video calling with random strangers. It’s hardly a new internet phenomenon – but the recent demise of Omegle has prompted the creation of several similar platforms bidding to fill the vacuum. One such contender is Monkey – a service that randomly connects its users for video calls, using their mobile numbers and Snapchat account details

Monkey has surged in popularity since Omegle’s shutdown in November 2023: visits to the site more than doubled within a month and have been climbing steadily ever since. Regrettably, it also seems that Monkey suffers from many of the same pitfalls as its notorious predecessor – our #WakeUpWednesday guide highlights these possible risks to young people in more detail.

With Omegle finally shutting down in late 2023, the top spot among video chat services is up for grabs – and Monkey has its eyes set on the crown. Randomly matching its users for 15-second conversations, the platform’s developers claim to have created a dynamic online space for people to make new connections and, potentially, even some new friends.

Despite these innocuous-sounding intentions, however, Monkey has been criticised for moderation which may not be comprehensive enough to defend against the obvious dangers that unregulated, random video calls pose to the younger element of the site’s userbase. Our #WakeUpWednesday guide tells trusted adults what they need to know about Monkey.

E-Safety information – MyLOL

24th January 2024L Forster

 

“The #1 teen dating website in the world” That’s the claim of MyLOL, which offers 13 to 19-year-olds the chance to rate each other’s pics, send private messages and contact strangers online. If that sets your alarm bells ringing, you’re far from alone: law enforcement agencies and schools in several countries have seen fit to issue warnings about the platform.

Among the main issues is the fact that MyLOL doesn’t have a reliable age verification method – meaning there’s no foolproof way to stop anyone outside the platform’s intended 13–19 audience signing up for an account under a false age. Our #WakeUpWednesday guide also highlights potential concerns around in-app purchases and the use of geolocation for sinister reasons.

 

Teenagers’ blossoming interest in romantic relationships and their devotion to online networking is a potent combination – and, regrettably, not always a safe one. It raises all kind of worries about the possibility of sharing intimate images or deeply personal information; and that’s simply with contacts their own age – to say nothing of the chance of connecting with an older stranger.

MyLOL – a site which specifically facilitates interaction between 13 to 19-year-olds – has amassed around a million users worldwide, but sadly its safeguarding protocols can’t match that level of success. The ease with which an adult could pose as a teen under a bogus birthdate makes grooming a realistic threat – and that’s far from the platform’s only risk, as our guide explains.

https://nationalcollege.com/

E-Safety Information – Disney+

6th December 2023L Forster

More than 150 million subscribers worldwide 📈 Disney+ has enjoyed a steady rise in popularity since launching four years ago: the platform’s deep library of treasured old-school animated favourites, modern classics and original series means that it can offer a rich seam of engrossing content that caters for young and not-so-young users alike 📺

Of course, a consequence of this approach is the presence of the sort of age-inappropriate material one might not expect to find on the platform, given Disney’s fabled status as a purveyor of family entertainment. There’s useful advice in avoiding this pitfall (and more besides) in this week’s #WakeUpWednesday guide, as Disney+ comes under the microscope.

In 2019, media titan Disney launched its own streaming platform, intending to challenge the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime. Giving (often exclusive) access to shows and movies – such as the legendary studio’s animated classics and the revered Star Wars back catalogue – Disney+ has been a colossal success, proving popular with viewers of all ages.

Despite Disney’s reputation for wholesome, child-friendly content, however, there’s far more material available on their platform – some of which is aimed exclusively at adults. This could easily fly under the radar, given the company’s general image. Our #WakeUpWednesday guide has useful tips to help your family sit back, relax and enjoy what Disney+ has to offer.

http://nationalcollege.com/

E-Safety Information – Online Safety Act

29th November 2023L Forster

Protecting children 🧒 Blocking illegal material ⛔ Removing harmful content on major platforms 📱 Those are the three main goals of the Online Safety Act, which entered UK law in October. While demanding more accountability from social media companies in particular, the act revises – rather than replaces – the current digital safeguarding duties placed on schools.

With changes including the creation of new criminal offences and greater options when raising an issue with a platform, there’s plenty for educators to take on board. Our #WakeUpWednesday guide this week provides a bite-size introduction to the Online Safety Act – and highlights some of the key points that schools need to be familiar with in the short term.

 

After a lengthy gestation period, the UK Government’s wide-ranging changes to the legislation around digital safeguarding have become enshrined in law as the Online Safety Act. The first of its kind in Britain, the act aims to improve protection for children online and clamp down on illegal material. Regulated by Ofcom, it will primarily impact social media platforms and companies which host user-generated content.

The new legislation, however, also carries implications for schools and their staff. Although further developments are expected, our #WakeUpWednesday guide summarises the main points of the act that schools need to be aware of so far – outlining some specific areas that the new laws address and what effect, in practical terms, this will have on education providers.

https://nationalcollege.com/

RAP Visit – South Shields Fire Station

17th October 2023D Fawkes

Y6 recently took part in the RAP workshop (Reducing Accidents at Play) at South Shields Fire Station.

The children met with firefighters who told them what to do in the case of a fire: who to telephone and how to keep yourself and everyone in your home as safe as possible.

We met with someone from Nexus who discussed how to safely get the Metro and access public transport.

We met with someone from Northern Power Grid who told us all about the dangers of electricity in our homes and outside in substations and how to keep ourselves safe around them.

We met with volunteers from RNLI who told us how to keep safe around water, including rivers and the sea.

We had a brilliant morning and learned lots to help keep us safe.

E-Safety Information – Among Us

4th October 2023L Forster

Among Us: fairly safe, or pretty sus? 👩‍🚀🚀 This scenario of spaceship crew members cooperating to complete tasks and uncover murderous alien imposters has garnered a sizeable and committed following with younger gamers 🎮

Though Among Us is presented in a (mainly) sanitised visual style, any children’s game which essentially foregrounds the concepts of deceit, betrayal and killing is always likely to cause some concerns. This week’s #WakeUpWednesday guide gets among it with Among Us.

Created in 2018 by a small indie studio that (at the time) had only four employees, Among Us has become one of the gaming world’s biggest breakout hits of recent years. In 2020, for example, it was the world’s most-downloaded mobile game. Its simplicity helped Among Us to resonate with younger players in particular: the game’s second largest audience slice is the 13–18 age bracket.

While the 7+ age rating, emphasis on teamwork and cartoonish, colourful graphics all suit a young fan-base, however, the game does carry more serious risks than betrayal by a team-mate or an untimely on-screen demise – with in-game purchases and possible contact from strangers on our #WakeUpWednesday guide’s list of hazards that trusted adults should bear in mind.

https://nationalcollege.com/

E-Safety Information – WhatApp

20th September 2023L Forster

It’s a description of encryption proscription! 🔏👀 The world’s most popular instant messaging service, WhatsApp has been appearing in the headlines even more often than usual recently over its opposition to aspects of the UK government’s Online Safety Bill ⚖

Encrypting messages to protect users’ privacy has undeniable merit, but it also poses obvious risks – especially to young people. Updated to reflect the newest version of WhatsApp, today’s #WakeUpWednesday guide brings trusted adults the latest essential info.

WhatsApp is the most widely used messaging platform on the planet, with over two billion users (forecast to become three billion by 2025), across more than 180 countries. The majority of those people (70%) open the app at least once a day – but what exactly are they seeing? Contact from strangers, fake news and convincing scams are all among the service’s well-documented hazards.

According to Ofcom, WhatsApp is used by more than half of 3- to 17-year-olds in the UK (including one in three from the 8–11 bracket), despite its 16+ age restriction. If your child hops onto WhatsApp to stay in touch with friends or family, our updated #WakeUpWednesday guide to the service contains the key details you’ll need to support them in doing it safely.

https://nationalcollege.com/

E-Safety information – Setting Boundaries around Gaming

14th September 2023L Forster

Almost half (46%) of 8- to 11-year-olds in the UK play online video games with people that they don’t necessarily know 👤🎮 While 55% of parents of young gamers worry that their child might be pressured into making expensive in-game purchases 💸

 

Most children find gaming immensely enjoyable, but its volume of potential risks – and capacity to influence behaviour – often make it problematic for parents.

Behind video-sharing platforms (like YouTube) and streaming TV shows and movies, gaming is the third most popular online activity for children in the UK. In fact, according to recent data from Ofcom, an overwhelming 89% of children aged 3 to 17 play video games. Of those, more than one in five (22%) talk to other players online who they don’t know outside the game.

The risk of contact from strangers is just one of the reasons that many parents are concerned about their child’s gaming: increased screen time, inappropriate content and in-game spending also figure among the most frequent fears. Agreeing on some rules around your child’s gaming activities can certainly help, and our guide has some useful tips for establishing these boundaries.

https://nationalcollege.com/