Download E-SAFETY Sharon Dixon Essential Safeguarding

E-SAFETY
Sharon Dixon
& Louise Allen
Essential Safeguarding
Outcome of Workshop
To raise awareness:
Social Media – Cyber Bullying, Pornography,
App’s, Sexting & The Law
CSE – Risks & Vulnerabilities
What Parents Can do – Keeping your children
safe
The Digital World
Children access the internet / social media. It’s
their world!
•93% of children use a computer and phone
•8 out of 10 teenagers have a home computer,
mobile phone/tablet and games console
•Half of 9-16 year olds in Europe now own a
smartphone
• An evaluation of 11-16 year olds using the ‘thinkUknow’
resource showed 1 in 5 shared personal information
and photos with someone they knew online
A study by the NSPCC found that 11-16 year olds place a
high value on feeling like they are part of an online or
social media community
Impact on Children
• Fear of missing out leading to excessive use or
exaggeration
• Getting upset by things they have seen and being
uncertain about what to do
• Engaging or being pressured into engaging in more
risky behaviour either by accident or by design
• Developing unrealistic, and possibly depressing ideals
of body image and gender
• Becoming subject to peer pressure or interactions that
are intense or too difficult to handle
• Creating an online reputation that may create
problems for them in the future
• Can restrict social skills building
• 24/7 - Impact on education
• Seeing inappropriate violent and sexual content
It’s not all doom and gloom!
Positives
• Place to explore positive relationships
• Have a voice on certain issues
• Reach a large audience for good causes
social media children
have access to…
What do you know
about APPS?
Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)
New Government definition to come…
•Project Phoenix worked with young people who were sexually exploited
and gave the following definition from workers and young people:
“Someone taking advantage of you sexually, for their own benefit.
Through threats, bribes, violence, humiliation, or by telling you that they
love you, they will have the power to get you to do sexual things for their
own, or other people’s benefit or enjoyment (including: touching or
kissing private parts, sex, taking sexual photos).”
• Abusers use well rehearsed Grooming techniques
CSE
Vulnerabilities
What to do if
concerned
• Not in education
• Contact the Police
• Lack of friends from same
age group
• Seek support from
support services such as:
PACE, Barnardos, NSPCC,
CEOP
• Low self-esteem
• Domestic Abuse,
MentalHealth
• Physical & emotional
availability of parent / carer
Pornography
• Children have easy access to pornography. Research
has shown that more children accidentally find online
porn than deliberately search for it (NSPCC)
• 28% of young people felt that pornography changed
the way they thought about relationships (NSPCC)
• 3 in 4 young women believe porn has led to pressure
on women to act a certain way (IP, 2014)
• Research found that 39% of boys in England aged 14-17
regularly watched pornography (STIR, 2015)
What you can do if
worried
• Explain that it is normal to be curious about sex but
pornography isn’t a healthy way to learn about sex
• Explain that pornography isn’t what real sex is like
• Try not to ask personal questions. Find a private space
for discussion
• Signpost your teen to services/websites like BROOK
Cyber bullying
Cyber bullying is a form of bullying online via social
media, gaming, spreading rumours or posting nasty or
embarrassing messages, images or videos
• More than 16,000 young people are absent from
school due to bullying (NSPCC)
• Facebook, Twitter and Ask.FM are found to be the
most common social networks for cyberbullying (DtL,
2013)
• Cyberbullying is found to have catastrophic effects
upon the self-esteem and social lives of up to 69% of
young people (DtL, 2013)
• As a result of bullying, 29% self harmed, 27% skipped
class, 14% developed an eating disorder and 12% ran
away from home (DtL, 2015)
• Appearance is cited as the number 1 aggressor of
bullying, with 51% saying they were bullied because of
attitudes towards how they look
• 26% said their weight was targeted, 21% body shape,
18% clothing, 14% facial features, 9% glasses and 8% hair
colour
What can you do
• Ask your child what they want to do…don’t take over
and act without their knowledge
• Remind them that it is the attitude and behaviour of
the perpetrator that is at fault
• Keep clear records of everything
• Put anger aside and seek support. School etc,
websites - NSPCC, Childline, Childnet, Police for advice
SEXTING
Sexting is “the exchange of sexual messages and
images, creating, sharing and forwarding sexually
suggestive nude or nearly nude images through
mobile phones and the internet” (NSPCC)
•Sexting can have a devastating impact. At it’s most
extreme it can lead to suicide and self harming or a
criminal record, isolation and vulnerability
•Once an image is in the public domain it is very difficult
to control and children and young people need to be
aware of this
• It can affect the mental health of the young person
leading them to feelings of paranoia and isolation at a
very important developmental stage of their lives
• Extreme cases of sexting could lead to a young person
moving to another school or moving home
The problems posed by sexting come from their peers –
from ‘friends’ in their social networks.
• Young people using sexting as threats towards others
Sexting and the Law
Young people involved in sharing sexual videos and
pictures may be committing a criminal offence
Under Section 1 of the Protection of Children Act
1978 and Section 160 Criminal Justice Act 1988 it is a
crime to:
• Take an indecent photo or allow an indecent
photograph to be taken
• Make an indecent photograph (this includes
downloading or opening an image that has been
sent via email)
A crime to…
•Distribute or show such an image
•Possess with the intention of distributing images
•Advertise; and
•Possess such images
• Prosecution is unlikely. However, children need to be
made aware that they may be breaking the law
• The police may visit and on some occasions media
equipment could be removed but this is more likely to
happen if the images have been distributed
Employers, universities and colleges are doing ‘digital
digging’ – they are looking at profiles, searching for
names and asking questions about the online profile
of potential recruits
What to do if concerned?
• Reassure your child that you will work with
them to deal with this matter
• If images are being circulated you can contact
the Police
• Inform the school and seek there advice on
how to manage within school
• Search for additional advice on CEOP, NSPCC,
Barnardos
CEOP - EXPOSED
Parental Controls
There are many ways to protect and support
your child…
•Open conversation
•Privacy settings on Facebook, most Apps,
Devices
•Use filters and controls
•Sharing information – no DOB, Age & location
There are many ways to seek support if concerned.
•If concerned about immediate danger to your child
call 999
•Contact the NSPCC
•Contact PACE
•Contact the school for support
•CLICK ‘Report it’ button on CEOP
What Next…
It is important to:
•Reassure your child. Don’t panic!
•Apply the same principles as with Stranger Danger,
or Road Safety
•Keep the dialogue of conversation open…all the
time
•Remind yourself and children that the internet
does have it’s positive uses!!
QUESTIONS