If you need advice on reporting harmful content online please visit the website below

https://reportharmfulcontent.com/?lang=en

Please find the link to the #Ditto online safety newsletter here:

At Marden Lodge we regularly talk to the children about online safety and how to stay safe online. It has come to our attention that a number of children have different social media accounts, including Instagram and Facebook. Most of these social media accounts have age restrictions of 13 year + (this is true of Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook), in compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). In our experience children are not socially mature enough to use these types of social media and therefore we would advise parents to adhere to the age restrictions. If your child does use social media, or other communications on line, we would recommend talking with your child about e-safety and would encourage you to monitor their online activity.

Help children stay safe online:

1. Have the conversation early and often

2. Explore online together

3. Know who your child is talking to online

4. Set rules and agree boundaries

5. Make sure that content is age-appropriate

6. Use parental controls to filter, restrict, monitor or report content

7. Check they know how to use privacy settings and reporting tools

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Online safety and Fortnite

It has come to our attention that a number of children have been discussing playing the game Fortnite online. As you may be aware the age rating is PEGI 12, due to ‘frequent scenes of mild violence. It is not suitable for persons under 12 years of age’ and there are also a number of other potential issues you should be aware of:

-        As Fortnite is an online game you will play against players of different ages from across the world. You cannot turn the in game chats off or choose who you play against

-        Fortnite does feature violence when players are in combat with each other

-        Although Battle Royale is free to play, other aspects of the game are not. There are packs which give you different access to the full game and extensions, bonuses and weapons

As recommended by the UK Safer Internet Centre the advice says:

-        Have an open and honest conversation with your child

-        Play the game with them

-        Know how to make a report

-        See what other people think of Fortnite

All of which can be found here: https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/blog/parents-guide-fortnite-battle-royale and a Parents Guide to Fortnite.

Below are links for parents supporting children using social media. We hope you will find them useful.