Campaign to protect children online as Safer Internet Day is launched
Police are asking parents and carers to talk to their children about staying safe online and come #TogetherforaBetterInternet
Safer Internet Day, on Tuesday, February 5, is co-ordinated by the UK Safer Internet Centre, aims to highlight positive uses of technology and the role everyone plays in helping to create a better and safer online community for children and young people.
Suffolk Police will be supporting this year’s campaign by asking parents and carers to look at whether the social media accounts, websites and apps that their children have access to are appropriate.
Detective Inspector Steve Corbett said: “The theme of this year’s Safer Internet day is ‘Together For A Better Internet’ and by working together families can ensure they are all playing a role together to stay safe online. We are asking parents and carers across Suffolk to sit down with their children and talk frankly about their online activity,
- Get to know and become familiar with the social networks your children use, such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Vine, You Tube, Tumblr. InternetMatters and ThinkYouKnow websites are good sources of information for keeping up with the latest social media networks and advice.
- Check privacy settings on your child’s social network. Make sure these are set so that only family/close friends can see their profiles, especially their photographs and location. Stress the need for password protection and the necessity of not sharing with friends or others.
- Teach them about cyberbullying. Encourage them to use appropriate language online, if they wouldn’t say it in person, don’t text or post it on line. Get them to report cyberbullying and talk to a trusted adult if they or someone they know is being cyberbullied.
- Think before you post or engage in sexting. Ensure your child is aware that whatever they put online can be shared with the entire world forever.
- Set a positive example. Lead by example of how to behave online, do not post inappropriately yourself, protect your social media profiles and limit your usage to a reasonable time.
Det Insp Corbett added: “We understand the great public concern that has recently been expressed over children and young people accessing content related to self-harm and suicide online and we would urge people to visit Internet Matters https://www.internetmatters.org for a comprehensive range of support and advice. ”
Tim Passmore, Suffolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner, said: “Keeping Suffolk’s young people safe online is an issue of grave concern. We’ve had many of reports about grooming and violence being incited online and these threats need to be tackled now.
“I fully support the Constabulary’s campaign to come #TogetherforaBetterInternet. It is so important that parents and carers take time to talk to their children about the dangers that the internet can pose. We hear so many tragic stories of self-harm and suicide being linked to information picked up from the internet so we need to do all we can to help parents and carers to help their children to stay safe online.”
He added: “Last year my £100K #StaySafeOnline Fund supported various organisations across the county. These projects funded by my office have engaged with over 100,000 young people to make them aware of the potential evil of the internet.”
As part of Safer Internet day families are also being encourage to sign up to their own Internet Safety Plan. This gives them the chance to talk about online behaviours, such as what they should or shouldn’t do on the internet, agree how long devices can be used every day and what to do if something has caused upset. https://www.childnet.com/ufiles/Online-safety-agreement.pdf
During the week officers from Suffolk Police’s cybercrime team will also be going into various schools across the county to raise awareness and educate young people around online safety as part of their continued work.
For more information and advice go to http://www.suffolk.police.uk/advice/personal-safety/online-safety
#SaferInternetDay2019