The holiday season is fast approaching! 🎅 While we hope you’re excited to kick back, relax, and enjoy some well-earned rest with friends and family, it’s still vitally important that we do all we can to safeguard the children and young people in our care over the festive period 🎁
However, it can be tricky to know what specific steps we can take to ensure our winter break is as calm and risk-free as possible, which his why we’ve put together this week’s free guide. Check out our expert advice on keeping youngsters safe over the festive season ❄️🛡️
What Parents & Educators Need to Know about Mental Health and Wellbeing Apps
According to findings from the NHS, 1 in 5 children in England suffer from a probable mental health issue, with 420,000 treated for such problems every month 😔 With such high numbers of young people in need of mental health support, it’s perhaps unsurprising that plenty of them have turned to using apps intended to help them through these kinds of challenges 📱
Unfortunately, there are plenty of risks associated with these services ⚠️ from data collection to a potentially unhelpful, impersonal experience. It can be difficult to know how to keep young users safe as they navigate these services, but this week’s free guide provides expert advice on how to do exactly that, while also breaking down the specific safety concerns of mental health and wellbeing apps.
11th November marks the beginning of Anti-Bullying Week, and this year’s theme is “Choose Respect”. Statistics from this week’s experts – the Anti-Bullying Alliance – reveal that 40% of children in the UK have suffered some form of bullying within the last year, with the most common experience being name-calling and verbal abuse. While it can have several causes, this kind of behaviour is commonly seen when a disagreement between two youngsters gets out of hand and emotions take over 😠
Many children are still learning how to conduct themselves, and it can be difficult for them to know how to act when faced with someone who disagrees with them, or otherwise find themselves in conflict with another person 🆚 It can also be tricky for parents and educators to teach them how to resolve disputes in a mature and healthy manner. By teaming up with the ABA for Anti-Bullying Week, we’re bringing you expert advice on encouraging children to choose respect.
What Parents & Educators Need to Know about: In-Game Chat
If you’ve played or seen any online games from the past few years, you’ve probably noticed that almost every title of this kind has some kind of chat functionality. Whether allowing players to send text messages to one another ⌨️ or letting them use their mics to chat together on voice 🎙️ if you’re on a multiplayer game, chances are you can talk to your fellow gamers, one way or another 💬
Sadly, such a function comes with its fair share of risks – as is to be expected with a feature intended to connect gamers from around the world 👤 and it is immensely important for parents and educators to understand these concerns and help young players address them. That’s why we’ve put together this free guide, breaking down the most prevalent issues associated with in-game chat and letting you know how to keep youngsters as safe as possible if or when they’re exposed to this feature.
10 Top Tips for Parents and Educators: Creating Family Rules For Using Devices
According to a study published by Ofcom, every child in the UK will possess at least one digital device by the age of 17 – most commonly a smart phone 💯📱 While owning online technology is widely accepted, this by no means removes the risks associated with using such devices. It is important to support children’s development of boundaries and a healthy relationship with technology, starting from their first steps into the digital world.
Many trusted adults might find establishing and implementing rules for technology to be complex and difficult. It can sometimes be hard to know what specifically to restrict, how to restrict it, and how to do so fairly. To lend a hand, this week’s #WakeUpWednesday guide offers advice on creating rules for the whole family around using devices 📜💻
According to Ofcom, 69% of under-18s use a smartphone as their main method of going online. Additionally, 49% of children use them for online gaming – putting smartphones only behind consoles (59%) as the device of choice for playing games on. Most people won’t require such statistical evidence, however, to acknowledge the huge importance of phones to young people.
Given that Santa’s recent visit is likely to have bestowed smartphones on an even greater number of young people, it’s a particularly opportune moment to ensure that children are able to use their handsets responsibly – and, above all, safely. From passcodes to parental controls, and from screen time to scams, our #WakeUpWednesday guide has the essential advice.
Whether your family chooses a tech-free Christmas, or there may be new devices under your tree, we wish you all a very happy, and safe, Christmas.
12 Top Tips for Children and Young People to Enjoy a Tech-Free Christmas
With Christmas right around the corner, millions of families are excitedly anticipating the chance to spend some quality time with each other over the festive season. When everyone’s engrossed in their phones or glued to their games consoles, however, genuinely meaningful moments with loved ones can often be difficult to orchestrate.
Our Christmas #WakeUpWednesday guide will lend a hand: providing some advice on helping young people to set aside their devices for a while and live in the moment. Even if going full tech cold turkey feels unrealistic, implementing just a few of these tips could still decrease the amount of screen time in your home this festive season – enabling everyone to make the most of it.
Top Tips for Setting up Parental Controls on New Devices
At this time of year, it’s highly possible that you have a new phone, games console or other digital device stashed somewhere at home, ready to be unwrapped. Many parents also prefer to place some protective measures on those gifts – to keep their child shielded from potential #OnlineSafety risks – while others would like to, but aren’t sure where to begin.
The guide below shepherds you through the process of establishing parental controls on new internet-enabled devices, from smartphones to laptops to consoles. Simply find the device in question and read on to find out what options you have and how to enable them – letting children enjoy their shiny new gadget, without so much of the worry over where it might lead them.
What Parents and Carers Need to Know about Disney+
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. This #WakeUpWednesday guide has useful tips to help your family sit back, relax and enjoy what Disney+ has to offer.
The social media network formerly known as Twitter has undergone numerous alterations since its change of ownership and rebranding as X – and many of these recent developments have proved controversial. With any user now simply able to pay a fee for account verification, for example, the once-reliable ‘blue tick’ system has become largely meaningless.
It’s just one of several changes that have set the social media giant on what many consider a concerning path in online safety terms. This #WakeUpWednesday guide provides a run-down of the most significant tweaks made to X; their potential safeguarding implications; and how to help ensure young people minimise the risks while they continue to use the service.
Top Tips for Safer Online Shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Gone are the days of Black Friday only existing in the physical environs of the high street. Now, both this retail landmark and its sister event, Cyber Monday, see deals and discounts displayed across almost every online retailer. The array of reductions makes this an ideal moment to treat a loved one (or yourself!) to those treasured items for considerably less than their usual cost.
The frantic dash for the best bargains online, however, also harbours several risks: chiefly, cybercriminals hoping to exploit people’s excitement and hoodwink them out of their hard-earned cash. This #WakeUpWednesday has some expert pointers on keeping your both your money and your personal information safe while still making the most of the spectacular sales.
