As is the case for members of staff at the Academy, we highly recommend that parents/carers keep abreast of ‘national’ issues and trends that are of concern under the ‘Safeguarding’ umbrella; we hope you will trust our experience and realise that it is never 100% safe to say, “that would never happen round here” or “my child wouldn’t do that….” – we ALL need to be aware, watchful and prepared to take action if we have ANY concerns about another individual – particularly where that individual may be a young person.
The links below, in roughly chronological order (most recent at the top), will take you to original articles published at a time when key ‘Safeguarding’ matters were very much in the public eye; this by NO means an exhaustive list, but these selected few were, and remain, very thought-provoking!
UK’s first conviction for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) – perpetrator to face a possible 14-year prison sentence (Sky News)
Resources shared with parents/carers via Parent Bulletin and Facebook:
National Online Safety: Be Kind Online (A3 PDF poster)
National Online Safety: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (A3 PDF poster)
National Online Safety: Parents’ Guide to TikTok (A3 PDF poster)
TikTok – the latest social media platform to raise concern for children’s online safety.
“TikTok is a Paedophile magnet and unsafe for kids” is the message from an Australian Cyber Safety expert.” Many articles have been published around this video-sharing app, which is becoming more popular than Snapchat.
There have been various allegations and reports of incidents where children around the world are said to have self-harmed or even committed suicide after engaging with a fictional character, named ‘Momo,’ online. The BBC is among those to have published articles on the subject and whilst there appears to be no conclusive evidence this is rife in the UK, the dangers of allowing youngsters to browse the internet unsupervised is very real. This BBC article and a similar one published by The Week are well worth a read by parents to try and ensure their child(ren)’s safety online. The Police Cyber-crime Unit have also produced this useful guidance leaflet for parents, explaining the ways in which they can help their child to make sensible choices about their online activity and the sharing of personal information.
Whilst these articles may no longer be ‘current’ news, the content is more than likely still HIGHLY relevant and WELL worth checking out when you have a moment; covering topics such as self-harm, online safety/grooming, bullying, racist abuse, trafficking, child sexual exploitation, female genital mutilation (FGM) – and many others that parents/carers should be aware of and perhaps ‘looking out for’ in their own children and their children’s friends. See our archive here.