Digital Safety
Digital Safety Advice for Students
Whether on a computer at school, a laptop at home, a games console or mobile phone, children and young people are increasingly accessing the Internet whenever they can and wherever they are.
So how can you stay safe online? It’s not always easy to know what’s safe online and what’s not. There are a number of things you can do that will make you safer online...below are just a few things you can do to help protect yourself online:
- Don’t post any personal information online.
- Never give out your passwords.
- Keep your privacy settings as high as possible.
- Remember that not everyone or everything online is real or who or what they say they are.
- Don’t befriend people online you don’t know.
- Don’t meet up with people you’ve met online. Tell your parent or carer about anyone who asks you to meet up.
- Think carefully before posting or sending pictures or videos of yourself online.
- Think carefully about what you say before you post something online.
- Respect other peoples views, even if you don’t agree with someone else's views doesn’t mean you need to be rude.
- If you see something online that makes you feel uncomfortable, unsafe or worried: leave the website and tell a trusted adult immediately.
- Report any cyber bullying or harassment or threatening behaviour.
- Be careful about what you download.
- Watch out for phishing and scams. Never click links from emails or messages that ask you to log in or share your details, even if you think they might be genuine. If you’re asked to log into a website, go to the app or site directly instead.
Inform yourself and understand what the risks are, below are some more useful websites with more detailed information about the risks and how to stay safer online:
- www.thinkuknow.co.uk
- https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/
- https://www.childline.org.uk/staying-safe-online/
- www.childnet.com/sns
- www.internetmatters.org
- www.nspcc.org.uk/onlinesafety
- www.parentzone.org.uk
- www.askaboutgames.com
- https://www.betterinternetforkids.eu
Please read the Harrow Social Media guidance letter from The Wish Centre