Online safety for your family

We work with schools and educational settings to help children, staff and parents to understand online risks and how to manage them.

The Kent LADO Education Safeguarding Advisory Service provides guidance and assistance for those within educational settings.

Social media

Social media refers to online platforms and apps that let people create, share, and interact with content and each other. This includes posting photos, videos, messages, and updates, as well as joining groups and communities. Social media isn’t just for public sharing and also includes private messaging and video-sharing services.

You can access social media on smartphones, tablets, computers, games consoles, and even smart TVs. Popular examples include Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, WhatsApp, TikTok and Snapchat.

While social media is a great way to stay connected, it’s important to recognise the risks and to always think carefully about how we behave and what information is shared online.

Most social media platforms have a minimum age requirement of 13 years or older to comply with privacy laws and protect children. Parents should check age limits for apps their child uses and enable any available parental controls.

Device safety

Children can access the internet, including social media, using many different devices, including computers, games consoles, smartphones, smart TVs and tablets.

Internet Matters provides advice and information about setting up parental controls and keeping devices safe.

Online Safety Act

The Online Safety Act 2023 is a UK law designed to make the internet safer for everyone, especially children. It introduced new criminal offences and requires online platforms to:

• remove illegal content quickly and prevent harmful material from appearing
• protect children by blocking harmful or age-inappropriate content and enforcing age checks
• be transparent about risks and provide clear ways to report problems
• give adults more control over the content they see.

The Act is enforced by Ofcom, who can issue large fines or even criminal penalties for companies that fail to comply. These rules apply to services used in the UK, even if the company is based elsewhere.

Useful websites

There are many websites you can visit for additional support.

• Cerebra, in partnership with Mencap and Ambitious about Autism, have developed the Learning Disabilities and Autism Internet Safety Guide which includes how to deal with cyber bullying, spending money online, antisocial behaviour and more.
• Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) has information for children, teenagers, parents and teachers from the National Crimes Agency (NCA) to prevent and report online sexual abuse.
• Childnet is a non-profit organisation working with others to help make the internet a great and safe place for children.
• Internet Matters is an independent, not-for-profit organisation to help parents keep their children safe online. Find information around empowering vulnerable children in a digital world, parental control guides, digital resilience toolkits to help children become more resilient online, and a neurodivergent children support hub.
• Get safe online provides practical advice on how to protect you and your families’ computers and mobile devices against fraud, identity theft, viruses and other problems encountered online.
• NSPCC online safety has helpful advice to support you to keep your children safe online.
• NSPCC online safety for children with special educational needs and disabilities has specific advice for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
• UK Safer Internet Centre has a range of advice and resources to help parents help children and young people stay safe online.

Reporting concerns

The internet is a big part of everyday life, but it can also expose people, especially children, to risks like harmful content, bullying, scams and online abuse. It’s important to be aware of sources of support available.

If a child is being abused online, it may be appropriate to contact us or the police, using 999 if someone is in immediate danger.

• If you or your child receive a text scam, you can report this to Ofcom by forwarding it to '7726' (which spells out SPAM).
• To report cybercrime or fraud, contact Report Fraud.
• You can report online child sexual abuse to the National Crime Agency through the 'report abuse' button.
• The Internet Watch Foundation act on reports regarding child sexual abuse material online.
• You can report online material promoting terrorism or extremism.
• The Report Harmful Content website can help users report harmful content online by providing up to date information on community standards and direct links to the correct reporting facilities across multiple platforms.