St Columba’s is a Catholic school with Christ’s teachings of love, peace and justice at the heart of all we do
Our online safety and computing lead is Mr Richards who is available if you have any concerns you wish to seek advice on.
We strongly advise all parents of our Year 6 cohort to not allow children access to social media such as Tiktok or Whatsapp until they are at least 13. We also strongly advise that if children have access to any smartphones or similar devices that these are heavily monitored and children of this age only use them within your sight and direct supervision. We believe this is essential for the children to stay safe.
Children's mental health in relation to the online world is a huge topic and a great concern in the modern world. Below is some advice as a starting point for navigating this. Please be aware though that social media and instant messaging apps such as Tiktok and Whatsapp are huge risks to the children's mental health, especially at this young age, since they create a platform in which cyberbullying becomes easy and encouraged, actively encourage an addiction to being online or on a device, remove the ability for children to have time disconnected from their friends where they can calm down and stop feeling peer pressure, and the digital footprint created on these apps can be long-lasting and reputation-damaging.
The online world can be tricky for children to navigate. For some it can become overwhelming trying to keep up with friends, and the pressure can mount.
Noticing how your child is affected by being online is the first step in helping them manage their wellbeing.
You can:
Give children the chance to talk about what they're experiencing online, what apps and sites they use and who they're talking to.
Talking regularly, like you would about their day at school, will help your child feel relaxed and mean that when they do have any worries, they’re more likely to come and speak to you.
Remind them that it isn’t just you that they can talk to – another trusted adult or a Childline counsellor might be easier sometimes.
When children communicate online, misunderstandings can lead to disagreements or arguments.
Our devices are designed to keep us coming back. Features like infinite scrolling, app notifications, auto play and rewards for playing games every day are all persuasive designs to increase our use.
Mobile and wearable tech such as phones and smart watches can make us feel like we’re always online and it can help everyone to take a break sometimes, to help switch off from online pressures.
You can use the settings on individual apps, or in the device settings, to silence notifications for a period of time.
You can also use the 'do not disturb' mode available on most devices to mute calls and notifications, to help avoid distractions.
Chat apps allow the user to send messages, photos, videos and documents, as well as creating large group chats.
Some apps allow users to message people they don’t know, so your child could receive messages from people they don’t know - most apps have settings to allow this to be changed so that they only receive messages from people they know. With your child, make sure these settings are in place and show them how to reject requests from people they don’t know.
Even with friends, your child might see something that upsets them. Explore each app to see if there are reporting and blocking features. Show your child how to use these features and talk about situations when they might want to report or block.
Age rating: 13+
Main features: text, photo & video sharing, one to one and group chats, disappearing messages. End to end encrypted. Live location sharing.
Whatsapp safety settings -
To prevent children being added to groups by people they don't know in WhatsApp, we recommend changing the group chat settings from ‘Everyone’ to ‘My Contacts Except…’ and using the tick icon to select all contacts.
The ‘My Contacts Except…’ option means only your child’s phone contacts, except those you exclude, can add your child to groups. But by selecting all contacts, it means that nobody should be able to add your child to a group chat without first sending them an invitation.
Age rating: 13+
Main features: watch, create and share short videos; filters and effects; live streaming; group chats.
Many chat apps now have disappearing message functions. This means that once a message has been viewed, or after a certain amount of time, it will disappear from the recipient's device. This type of message has additional risks for young people:
Different names for disappearing messages include ‘snaps’ and ‘vanishing messages’. They're available on many different apps including WhatsApp, Instagram and Snapchat. Facebook has 'secret convos' that can only be seen on the device they are sent, they will not appear if you log into the account from a different device.
Make sure to talk to your child about what they’re sharing and let them they know they should come to you or another trusted adult if someone sends them something upsetting or worrying. Looking at the reporting and blocking features on the app they use can be very useful for your child too.
Online abuse is any type of abuse that happens on the internet. It can happen across any device that's connected to the web, like computers, tablets and mobile phones. And it can happen anywhere online, including:
Cyberbullying or online bullying is any type of bullying that happens online.
Unlike bullying that takes place offline, online bullying can follow the child wherever they go and it can sometimes feel like there's no escape or safe space.
Cyberbullying can include:
Online abuse can have long-lasting effects on children and young people. It can lead to anxiety and self-harming.
A child or young person experiencing abuse online might:
Any child who uses the internet can be at risk of online abuse. It's important parents are aware of the risks and talk to their child about staying safe online.
If you find out your child has done something to hurt someone else, you’re likely to feel angry, disappointed or any number of other strong emotions.
Explain that what they’re doing is unacceptable. Children and young people don’t always realise what they’re doing is bullying, or understand how much their actions have hurt someone.