He has seen that the NSPCC has released further guidance for parents about live streaming, screen time and social media safety for kids. The updated advice has been created specifically due to the effects of coronavirus and includes information about what to do if your child has seen upsetting or explicit content. With agencies such as Europol reporting a rise in reports of increased online risks to children in certain countries due to the coronavirus, it is important we are all looking out for our children’s online engagement as well as their mental health and wellbeing.

We wrote to parents a little while ago regarding the use of the app, TikTok and unfiltered YouTube access for our pupils outside of school. Whilst ultimately any decisions regarding access lay with parents, we would strongly urge you to help support us in relaying important messages about content and age restrictions to your children. As a reminder, the minimum age requirement for a TikTok account is 13, however, if you read many of the parental reports on Common Sense Media you will find most parents suggest an age restriction of at least 15/16+ is more appropriate due to the nature of some of the content that can be accessed. There are steps that can be taken to help filter some of this content, see NetAware by NSPCC, but society can never 100% sure that all content is suitable. We would also recommend that any Youtube accounts that are created on a child’s behalf should follow appropriate filters in order to minimise content that can be inadvertently clicked upon. More details regarding set up can be found here. You can also set up home filters on your home broadband network, with support offered here, or by contacting your broadband provider. Apps such as Google Family Link can be a useful place to begin. Remember if your child has seen or heard something online that upsets them, do please urge them to speak to yourself or another trusted adult in school on their personal network about their experience.