Understand the importance of e-safety for children and young people

Understand the importance of e-safety for children and young people 7. 1 | ISSUES | RISKS | POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES | | Being online | Theft of personal data | Computer criminals can use the data to spy on or blackmail users, hijack their online accounts (including bank | | | | accounts), spread rumours, or operate under the victim’s identity. | | | | | | | | Children could witness websites that may contain violence, adult language or graphic sexuality. | | | Exposure to inappropriate content | | | | | Children can be lured, blackmailed, abused or kidnapped by the predator in the real world. | | | | | | | Adults pretending to be minors to establish a close relationship | | | | with a young web user | | | Mobile phone | Latest technology phones | Loss of mobile phone through theft (mugging or assault.) | | | | | | | Health risks | The Department of Health issues guidelines on the use of mobile phones by young people under 16. This is because the| | | | head and nervous system are still developing in the teenage years and so children are more vulnerable than adults. | | | | Children under 16 should be discouraged from non-essential calls. | | | | | | | | The UK Chief Medical Officer has advised parents not to let children use mobile phones. | | | | | | | | Abusive phone calls, text or picture messages, embarrassing or violent videos. | | | | | | | | | | | Cyberbullying | | | AREA | WAYS OF REDUCING RISKS | | | Ensure children do not publish personal information like their location, email address, phone number or date of birth. By getting a child to select the strongest | | | privacy setting available when they creating their account will minimise risk to their personal information. | | | Keep a record of anything abusive or offensive children receive and report any trouble to the site management (most sites have a simple reporting procedure, normally | | Social networking | activated by clicking on a link on the page.) | | | | | | Use a child-safe search engine. | | | Child-oriented search engines work like regular search engines by helping kids locate information on the Internet, except they also provide special features to | | | protect children from inappropriate material. | | Internet use | | | | Ensure that the computer is used in an area where parents are close-by. | | | Children should be encouraged to explore the internet independently – without actually being alone. Ensure the computer is in a family room with the screen facing | | | outward. Children are more likely to ask questions if the parents are near-by, rather than in the privacy of their bedroom. | | | Reduce risks of identity theft by only shopping at secure websites. These can be identified by “ https” at the start of the web address; an unsecured website address | | | begins with “ http”.  An image of a padlock in the browser is also used to identify a secure website. | | | Do not share personal information.  Businesses may sometimes request personal information which is not required to complete the transaction.  Get children to think | | | about the information they are asked to provide and whether the business needs to know those details.   | | Buying online | | | | The UK Department of Health recommends that children under 16 should use mobile phones for short, essential calls only to reduce the risk of harm from electromagnetic| | | radiation which may lead to brain tumours and other cancers. Phones should be held slightly away from the head and text message should be sent instead of making | | Using a mobile phone | calls. | | | Ensure children use their phone in a safe place. Pedestrians using mobile devices are more likely to step into a crowded street and injure themselves by tripping or | | | running into things because they are not paying attention to where they are walking. | | | | | Using a mobile phone (cont) | |