Social Networking
Here at The Hathershaw College, we take Safeguarding seriously. One of the growing problems over recent years have been the increase of incidents that have stemmed from students’ use of social media.
In Our School
We asked our Pastoral Team which were the social networks that they dealt with on a regular basis, and here are the top 3 - with a few tips on how you can help your child avoid any uncomfortable situations.
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Snapchat |
What? |
Dangers | Solutions |
| A media messaging app. where the shared content ‘disappears’ after a few seconds. Users are often already friends in real-life as they have to share their user name or phone number to contact each other. | Inappropriate media/‘sexting’- as shared media ‘disappears’ it‘s easy to act without thinking, but users can take screenshots of what is sent. | ‘Block’ and ‘Remove’ users you do not know/are no longer friends with. | |
| Strangers can guess others’ user names and try to make contact. | Only add contacts you know in person. |
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What? |
Dangers | Solutions |
| These two networks are very similar. Mainly used to share images and videos, users can ‘Like’ and comment on other people’s posts. | Inappropriate comments. | ‘Report’ offensive content | |
| Strangers trying to make contact with your child. | Make your profile ‘Private’ & ‘Block’ and ‘Remove’ followers. | ||
| Sharing private information. | Turn off location services for the app. |
Other Apps. to Look Out For
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Yubo (formerly Yellow) |
Very similar to the adult app. Tinder, Yubo allows users to connect with anyone from around the world with a swipe left to ‘dislike’ or right to ‘like’. If both users ‘Like’ each other they become friends and can start chatting. |
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ChaCha |
ChaCha is a video chat app. Once users have set up a profile, ChaCha will randomly select people to start a video chat.
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Live.me |
This is a live video broadcasting app. that allows users to watch and chat to other users, as well as send out live videos of themselves. There are in-app purchases and subscription services with this app. |
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Sayat.me |
An anonymous feedback tool which allows users to leave whatever comments they like, which can be used to abuse people.
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Sarahah |
Another anonymous feedback tool that can be used to spread abusive messages. It also links to Snapchat to share links more easily. |
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Whisper |
An anonymous social “confessional” app. that allows users to post whatever’s on their minds with an image.
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Blue Whale
Blue Whale is a Social Networking game set up by an anonymous administrator, usually known to the participants, which sets 50 challenges over 50 days. The challenges increase in difficulty, and get progressively darker, with the last challenge being set asking participants to commit suicide.
We Recommend
parentinfo.org is a website which will keep you up-to-date on all social media that children and teenagers use, and provide you with helpful hints on how users can stay safe. You can even subscribe to their Newsletter.
Gallery Guardian
Gallery Guardian is an app. for both your phone and your child’s phone. It will monitor
the activity on your son or daughter’s phone and alert you if your child creates, views or receives a naked picture.
Flipd
Flipd is an app that hides distracting social media and game apps. on your child’s device for a period of time of your choice so they can stay focused and uninterrupted, but are still able to look up information online.
For Me (from Childline)
Designed by young people, for young people, the 'For Me' app is from Childline where you can talk to someone from Childline about anything that is having a negative affect on you. There is also a handy tips and advice section.
SafeToNet
Similar to Flipd, SafeToNet is downloaded to your device and the device of your child where you can allow and deny access to social media as-and-when you see fit. The app also claims to be able to identify and block harmful messages before they are sent to users, as well as having a 'ground' feature which can lock the device.
