This week, Ofcom released their annual “Children and parents: media use and attitudes” report. The report gives us a snapshot of how children and young people interact with and understand media and technology across the UK. It includes findings on parents’ views about their children’s media use and how they protect them from harm.

 

Here are some Top Tips on how you can keep young people safer at your school:

“Half of ten-year-olds now own their own smartphone and between the ages of nine and ten, smartphone ownership doubles”. If children in this age group are in your school, using the Safer Schools Screen Time Pack, including a ‘Tech Zone’ sticker and ‘Screen Time Agreement’ contract, can be a great way to teach them about healthy boundaries and habits. Download yours here.

“YouTube remains a firm favourite among children”. If you want to know more about the most popular apps and platforms used among your school community, don’t forget you can use the digital footprint survey function in your Safer Schools App. We know that some of you are already using this function to capture information on the platforms used in school communities, alongside the safety centre, to help young people stay safer online.

Get in touch with our Safer Schools team for guidance on how to send out a survey through your app.

“Newer platforms such as TikTok and Twitch are gaining popularity” It can be a daily challenge to keep up to date with the newest popular platform. We monitor the trends, risks and threats online, which inform the regular webinars that tell you what you need to know. If you thought ‘TikTok’ had something to do with a clock ­– then you might want to join our free webinar next month to learn more about the platform. Sign up here!