Online Safety Guidance

Setting age restrictions on a tablet or phone is one of the best, simplest and quickest ways to ensure that your child can only access age-appropriate content. You should always apply the restrictions appropriate to their age and lock those restrictions in place before giving a child a new phone or tablet.

Online grooming is when someone befriends and builds an emotional connection with a child for sexual or other purposes. Understanding the risks, signs and where to get help is crucial to keeping children safe online.

Bullying is not new and the internet certainly did not create the problem, but the anonymity of many online environments can increase the opportunity for people to bully, intimidate, harass and upset others. The vast majority of bullying incidents still take place ‘offline’.

As its name suggests, a decoy app is the use of an app installed on an electronic device with the purpose of hiding whatever is inside, such as pictures, messages or videos. It presents itself as one thing, while it actually does another. 

It may seem obvious but a great place to start to make you and your child safer online is to ensure that you create strong passwords that you routinely change. 

Children and young people play games on consoles, computers, smartphones, tablets and social networking sites.

‘Sexting’ is when someone sends or receives a sexually explicit text, image or video on their mobile phone, computer or tablet. It can include sexual chat or requests for pictures/images of a sexual nature. 

Facebook is one of the world’s largest social media platforms, with over 2.27 billion active monthly users. Facebook allows individuals to create profiles, upload photos and videos, connect with family and friends and share content from elsewhere on the web.

There are certain words 'buzzwords' relating to Facebook.  Meanings of these 'buzzwords' are included within this section.

Instagram is a mobile based photo-sharing app which allows users to share pictures and videos either publicly or privately.

There are certain words 'buzzwords' relating to Instagram.  Meanings of these 'buzzwords' are included within this section.

Snapchat is an app where users can share photos, messages and short videos which can be customised with filters, text and stickers.

There are certain words 'buzzwords' relating to Snapchat.  Meanings of these 'buzzwords' are included within this section.