Online Safety

WhatsApp has been a significant concern for many schools, particularly chat groups where predominantly low-level issues suddenly escalate. Last week, in another completely unexpected move, WhatsApp announced that children under 13 can now use WhatsApp via ‘Parent-Managed Accounts’.

Essentially these are accounts set up by the parent on the child’s device, but managed from the parents device. As well as no access to AI within WhatsApp and no ads there are parent management features which include:

• Contact management – parents can choose who can contact their child and which chat groups they can join. Children cannot join groups without parents approval. Messages from unknown contacts are sent to the parent first for approval.
• Activity notifications – parents can view their child’s activity such as when a child adds a new contact or if disappearing messages are turned on. Parents will also be notified if their child blocks or reports a contact.

Link – Introducing parent-managed accounts on WhatsApp.
Link – How to set up a parent-managed account.

With the concerns of toxic masculinity and misogynistic attitudes increasing, parents should be aware of related behaviours.

Looksmaxxing isn’t specifically related to misogynistic attitudes, but it can be related to masculinity, where young people are influenced to be ‘more masculine’ by being fitter and having bigger muscles. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, plenty of young people refer to looksmaxxing as leading a good lifestyle and being healthy (known as softmaxxing), but there can be other sides to this as well such as taking steroids or cosmetic surgery (known as hardmaxxing). There can also be mental health concerns such as social comparison, anxiety and self-esteem.

Internet Matters have created a really good guide about LooksMaxxing for parents including what it is, why it’s so popular, risks and signs for parents to look out for.

Link: Information for parents – what is looksmaxxing?

Link: BBC news article on looksmaxxing

Sextortion is a form of blackmail where sexual images or information are used to threaten or control someone, often taking place online. It’s on the rise and is affecting more and more teens, with boys becoming particular targets.

Please take a few minutes to read the advice here for parents and young people: https://saferinternet.org.uk/online-issue/sextortion

This article is primarily aimed at teens, but has valuable advice for parents:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z8whjfr

Roblox is a popular, creative platform that can be good for fostering creativity and social connection, but it carries significant safety risks, including exposure to inappropriate content, cyberbullying, and predators. This platform is very popular amongst those around the 10-13 age groups.

Even their CEO said if parents have concerns over their childrens’ use of it they shouldn’t let them use it. While it offers tools for creation and coding, parents must use strict parental controls, monitor activity, and educate children on safety.

Key Takeaways on Safety and Benefits:

• Positive Aspects: It provides a platform for children to create, publish their own games, and learn coding skills. It acts as a social space to play with friends.
• Safety Risks: The platform has been criticized for inadequate protection against online predators, cyberbullying, and exposure to sexually explicit or violent user-generated content.
• Inappropriate Content: Despite moderation efforts, users can encounter “condo games” (sexually explicit content), graphic violence, and inappropriate language, often hidden from standard filters.
• Parental Controls: Parents should use Roblox’s Parental Controls (see link below) to restrict chat, manage spending on Robux, and restrict access to age-appropriate games.
• Platform Recommendations: The CEO of Roblox advises that if parents are not comfortable, they should not let their children use the platform, according to a BBC interview.
• Age Appropriateness: While not having a strict minimum age, ESRB rates Roblox T for Teen, and it is generally advised that younger children require heavy supervision, as discussed on the ESRB blog.

Here’s a link to a guide on using their parental controls: Roblox parental controls

Jenny is a mother with two teenage girls who feels the pressure of keeping up to date with online safety, new app settings and more; the same as other parents.

In this article and YouTube video Jenny shares how she uses app-level parental controls to manage social media use across her daughters’ phones and tablets.

Link: Using App Controls to Support Children

All staff and pupils who access IT within school or remotely must agree to the Acceptable Use Policy. They will respect the feelings, rights, values and intellectual property of others in their use of technology in school and at home. Pupils will be taught how to use technology safety and responsibly. Use of IT within school and remotely is monitored and filtered using SmoothWall.

As the use of social media apps by young people grow, it’s worth taking a look at the minimum age requirement of these apps. This web page gives details of the age requirements of several social media apps. If your child uses one not covered in the article then please take a few minutes to check online to see if it’s appropriate.