Online Safety
The Internet is an essential element of 21st century life for education, business and social interaction, and we have a duty to provide our children with quality Internet access as part of their learning experience.
Online safety during the Covid-19 crisis
During the current crisis children and young adults are spending much longer online. Although this is predominantly for learning, the temptation to 'browse or 'play' online is often too much to resist. Social media is also been used more than ever to stay in touch with friends and family.
Unfortunately, during this period there has also been a big increase in reported cases of online grooming and abuse- including amongst children under the age of 5!
The following sites contain vital information related to many of the online dangers that children of all ages may be confronted by and ways in which you can protect your child.
This site explains what many areas of online life are and how they present dangers to children. Please do not assume that any topic is 'too old' for your child as many of the topics contain information specific to all ages with extra information for certain age categories. For example, the 'sexting' and 'Online Grooming' pages contain information aimed at parents of children aged as young as 3. Topics include: Social Media, Gaming, Screen Time Boundaries, Cyberbullying and Apps
New apps are created all the time and it is hard ( or impossible) to keep up to date with what are children are using. On this site you can type in the name of a apps your child may want to install and it will give you information about its suitability for different ages, the level of risk it presents, what you should know about it and top tips for staying safe. It is regularly updated and includes more recent apps such as TikTok and Houseparty.
A new app you can install with child friendly information about how to be safe online and a keyboard which will give warnings if you are about to send a message that is upsetting or 'mean'.
A selection of websites compiled by the Essex Safeguarding Team.
We believe that teaching our children how to stay safe when using the Internet is an extremely important part of this experience.
In school children are taught about E-Safety as part of the Computing Curriculum. Children are taught about protecting personal details, keeping private information private, how to use the internet responsibly and how to recognise when other on-line users may not be who they say they are. Older children will be shown how to use social media safely and to identify the risks of online grooming in a manner suitable for their age and the potential risk involved. Children will also be taught how to report online abuse, unwanted requests for pictures or personal information aimed at themselves or other people using the CEOPS (Child Exploitation and Online Protection) button.
The online world is in a constant state of change. By the time many adults have caught up with the latest trend their children have already moved on.
For up to date information on how to help children stay safe online visit:
www.esafetytraining.org/resources for general information for parents and children
www.esafetytraining.org/parent-carers-area for a guide to common Apps and games
parentzone.org.uk/parents for general information for parents and about specific Apps and games
www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/articles/gaming for information about online gaming
Coping with viral scare stories
and follow the Essex E-safety Facebook page www.facebook.com/The2johns
