Category: E Safety tips for families

Controversial changes to WhatsApp’s privacy policy back in 2021 was a major shot in the arm for Telegram, as millions of users began searching for a more secure messaging platform. Indeed, Telegram is so confident in its resistance to hacks that it’s previously set challenges (with a prize of up to $300,000) to any user who’s able to crack its encryption.

With protected ‘secret chats’ and self-deleting messages, however, Telegram’s security advantage has also been subverted by criminals using the app to trade stolen data, share child sexual exploitation material and arrange drug deals. As Telegram’s popularity continues to grow, our #WakeUpWednesday guide tells trusted adults what they need to be aware of.

Read on to access your free guide…National Online Safety

Health – our ability to monitor it, and motivation to improve it – is a major selling point for smartwatches. A recent survey found, for example, that smartwatch owners tend to exercise at least one day more every week than people who don’t have a smartwatch. It’s unlikely that the device causes this increase, but it almost unquestionably encourages the additional workouts.

Factor in the facility to store potentially life-saving medical information and to contact emergency services instantly, and it’s clear that smartwatches have plenty to recommend them. As our #WakeUpWednesday guide discovers, however, possible hazards including hidden costs and night-time use interfering with sleep mean that it’s not universally good news for parents.

Read on to access your free guide…National Online Safety

In an age where empathy and understanding are more valuable than ever, apps like Wizz – which connect users with potential new friends – can be incredibly welcome. Pairing people with others who share their interests, the app can unite mutual fans of the same music, find fellow foodies to exchange recipes with or recruit new players for someone’s favourite online game.

Indeed, the app’s tagline promises to “expand your world”. Is that expansion totally safe, however? As this week’s #WakeUpWednesday guide finds out, Wizz’s age verification system isn’t infallible – so, with the possibility of young people being matched with much older users, trusted adults might want to familiarise themselves with how this trending app actually works.

Read on to access your free guide…National Online Safety

Did you know that a fifth of 3- and 4-year-olds in the UK have their own mobile phone? Or that one in five of the 8- to 17-year-olds who play online games chat to people they don’t know while they’re gaming? Those are just two of the surprising (and, for many, disconcerting) statistics highlighted by Ofcom’s recently published ‘Media Use and Attitudes’ report.

It’s well worth a read, but weighing in at 50 pages of fairly densely packed data, we appreciate that it’s the sort of thing parents and teachers might not always have time for. So our #WakeUpWednesday guide this week is an at-a-glance breakdown of some of the report’s headline findings, from device usage to online spending habits.

Read on to access your free guide…National Online Safety

With smartphones, tablets, laptops and games consoles now the norm, it’s no surprise to learn that almost nine out of ten (89%, to be exact) 10 to 15-year-olds in the UK go online every day. What’s perhaps less expected, though, is that more than one in four (27%) say their parents or carers don’t talk to them much – or, in fact, at all – about what they actually do in the digital world.

This leaves many children feeling like they lack a source of emotional support if something online is causing them stress. As today’s #WakeUpWednesday guide discovers, maintaining a regular avenue of communication about our digital lives is just one step that trusted adults can take to help children feel more in control of how – and when – they use internet-enabled devices.

Read on to access your free guide…National Online Safety

In 2022, Microsoft’s Digital Defence Report estimated that cyber criminals made more than 900 attempts to hack passwords every single second – and warned that the number was on the rise. Only around a tenth of those were successful, but the business magazine Inc. nevertheless reported approximately eight million passwords being stolen each day globally. Concerning, isn’t it?

Thankfully, there are plenty of steps we can take to make our valuable data less accessible to prying eyes. As well as recommending password management software and multi-factor authentication, our #WakeUpWednesday guide also suggests some even easier ways to come up with different passwords that are simple to remember – but difficult to guess.

Read on to access your free guide and catch up on the latest online safety news…National Online Safety

The world, sadly, is all too often an unfair place. That’s why Comic Relief annually raises both funds and awareness to combat some of modern life’s worst inequalities. Unfortunately, many of these imbalances also play out in the online space, with young internet users often attacked because of a disability, their gender or their family’s financial circumstances.

As Red Nose Day 2023 gears up to help people through difficult times and put smiles back on young faces, our #WakeUpWednesday guide this week examines how to support children in dealing with negative things they watch, hear or read online. We’ve got top tips for safe, healthy online habits that can help youngsters to take potential pitfalls in their stride.

Read on to access your free guide and catch up on the latest online safety news…National Online Safety

It hasn’t quite made the sociocultural splash of the Mac or the iPhone, but Apple’s iPad has undeniably been a colossal critical and commercial success for the American tech giants. The device truly changed the game: before the iPad, comparatively few tablets existed – and they certainly weren’t adaptable enough to find a niche in the home as well as the workplace.

In the intervening 13 years, Apple’s sleek tablet has become a familiar sight in homes around the world – with children being wholehearted fans of having a portable, easy-to-use gateway to learning and entertainment on tap. Are iPads completely safe for young users, however? And if not, what do trusted adults need to be aware of? Our #WakeUpWednesday guide has the details.

Read on to access your free guide…National Online Safety

Dual-screening is when someone uses multiple devices or screens at once. This is sometimes called multi-screening, screen stacking or media multitasking. Because dual-screening forces the user to divide their attention, concerns about the impact on young people have arisen.internetmatters.org

Children’s Mental Health Week is taking place 6-12 February 2023, and in support of this year’s event we’ve produced a #WakeUpWednesday guide which outlines how youngsters’ mental wellbeing can by boosted by an (arguably) unexpected source: video games. Many children view gaming in the same way that they regard reading a book or watching a movie: a way to relax and unwind.

Gaming not only helps young people to de-stress and gives them a valuable sense of satisfaction when they succeed in the game – it can also develop their essential life skills (such as problem solving, co-operation and social interaction) without young gamers even realising that they’re learning things. Check out this week’s guide for a more detailed run-down.

Read on to access your free guide…National Online Safety