GGF Parenting Workshop – Safeguarding Children Online Seminar

The aim of our courses is to increase parents’ knowledge, skills and confidence and enjoyment of the parenting role.

Facilitator – Dupe MakindeDirector – GGFwww.Godsgracefoundation.orginfo@godsgracefoundation.org

Core Activities

Youth DevelopmentFREE Study SupportParenting WorkshopsSupporting children in

povertyYouth Leaders Training

What is Safeguarding?

Protection, Precaution, DefenceSafety measurePreserveLook after

Why Safeguard? (1)Physical abuse - violence causing injury or occurring regularly during childhood.

Sexual abuse occurs when someone uses power or control to involve a child in sexual activity in order to gratify the abuser’s own sexual, emotional or financial needs or desires.

Why Safeguard? (2)Emotional abuse is persistent or severe emotional ill-treatment of a child that is likely to cause serious harm to his/her development.

Neglect involves persistently failing to meet a child’s physical, psychological or emotional needs.

Dangers that our children face on the internet

CyberbullyingExposure to Pornography and

other inappropriate contentBefriending or communicating

with people they don't knowGrooming and sexual abuseSexual Exploitation

Cyberbullying

Bullying that takes place online or on social networks.

It can be very damaging to a child's health.

It can involve posting a picture and writing horrible comments about a person.

Facts about Inappropriate Contents9500 web pages were removed by

the Internet Watch Foundation worldwide in 2013.

70,000 indecent images of children were reported to “The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre” in 2012.

100s of pro-eating disorder websites are estimated to exist.

Sources: www.iwf.org.uk, www.ceop.police.uk & www.ucs.ac.uk

Damaging Effects of Pornography (1)28% of 11 to 18 year olds feel that

pornography has changed the way they think about relationships.*

475 counselling sessions were held by ChildLine in 2012/13 with young people who had been exposed to sexually explicit images, including pornographic videos or online content.

*www.nspcc.org.uk

Damaging Effects of Pornography (2)Pornography is as addictive as any

drug.Addiction causes low self-confidence,

an empty feeling and general uselessness.

Pornography exposure contributes to sexual aggression in some users.

Negative effects on healthy development and relationships.

Distorted or twisted view of opposite gender.

BBC Newsbeat SurveyAround half of 15 to 17-year-olds

have accessed pornography on a smartphone or tablet, according to a survey seen by BBC Newsbeat.

A charity suggested the rise in popularity of smartphones and tablets has made it easier to access porn.

“Young Minds” Feb 2014 SurveySurvey questioned 2,000 people

aged 11 to 25.The results show porn is having a

"damaging impact" on young people.The survey suggests many people

who watch porn think it has affected their relationships.

Overall, 13% of those questioned said watching porn "definitely" had an effect.

“Young Minds” Feb 2014 Survey

Answer 11-14 15-17 18-21 22-25 Female Male

No 67.5% 50% 44.1% 46.5% 59.3% 43.8%

By accident

11.8% 13.4% 9.7% 6% 8.9% 11.4%

Lots 10% 11.6% 17.8% 19% 11.3% 19.9%

Once or twice

10.7% 25% 28.4% 28.4% 20.5% 24.9%

Befriending Strangers

The percentage of online friends that children did not know outside of being online was:12% for 8 - 11 years olds in 201225% for 12 - 15 year olds in 2013

Source: www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents

Grooming and Sexual abuseGrooming happens when

someone builds a connection with a young person in order to sexually abuse them.

It can happen on social networking sites, chat rooms and can also lead to face to face meetings between an adult and a child.

Sexual Exploitation (1)

1) Child sexual exploitation is when children and young people receive something (such as food, accommodation, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, affection, gifts, or money) as a result of performing, and/or others performing on them, sexual activities.2) It can occur through the use of the internet or on mobile phones.3) Most victims don’t come forward because of fear and the pain of their ordeal.

Sexual Exploitation (2)In 2013 Barnardo's services worked

with 1,940 children and young people who had been sexually exploited.

Vulnerable children are at risk of sexual exploitation .

Younger victims (aged 10 -13) are being targeted.

Perpetrators now use the internet to protect their identity.

Impact of Sexual ExploitationVictims are at risk of:

Sexual abuse and/or violence, such as sexual assault or rape

Physical harm Mental health problemsSubstance misuse and/or overdoseSuicide attemptsTeenage pregnancyIsolation from family and friendsLack of education and/or poor grades at

school.

Why do children go online?

To connect with friends and make new ones

Search for information or content on search engines

Chat with othersPlay GamesShare images and watch videosUse social networking websites.

Social MediaThe average youth will watch more than 15,000

hours of television by the time they leave secondary school.

 They spend more than an average 38 hours a week listening to music, surfing the net, watching movies and playing video games.

They will process 1.8 million media messages a year on average.

Christian youth are similarly confronted with media messages that are not always affirming of their Christian values.

Youth are especially targeted by the media because they are a more vulnerable and reachable demographic.

Keeping your child safe online (1)Find out what they use the internet and

how they use.Take an active interest in what they are

doing and who they communicate with.Discuss the danger of the internet with

them.Install filtering software.Tell them not to believe everything they

read onlineTell them what they need to do about

spam and junk emails.

Keeping your child safe online (2)Encourage your child (min age is 13) to

set their profile to private on Facebook.Make sure they are not spending

excessive time on the internet.Set parental controls on search

engines, you tube account and mobile phones.

Visit Google home page and click on settings to change filtering options,

Visit www.google.com/familsafety/tools for step by step guides.

Parental ControlsFiltering - restricts access to

particular sites.Time limits – restricts the amount

of time your child can be online.Monitoring – informs you of the

sites that your child is attempting to access.

Reporting – provides you with information about sites your child has visited.

Where to get them?Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) -

major ISP’s provide parental control packages.

Devices that connect to the internet.

Software – look out for reputable companies and check out their reviews online.

They are good but they have limits.

Protecting in a Digital WorldSet controls on TV to restrict

specific channels.It can be useful to be on

Facebook if your child is on Facebook.

Ensure the mobile phone providers parental control services settings are switched on.

If not, ask them to be switched on.

Games ConsolesMicrosoft Xbox 360 offers

parental controls called Family Settings.

Nintendo DS and DS Lite both use PIN systems.

Nintendo WII offers parental controls for game playing and internet use.

Both Sony Playstation 3 and Sony PSP have parental controls.

Useful Sites

www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents

www.chatdanger.comwww.ceop.gov.uk (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre)

www.getsafeonline.co.ukwww.iwf.org.uk

SummaryDangers that our children face on

the internet.Protecting our children.Know what they are up to online.Talk to them regularly about the

dangersSet parental controlsUpdate filtering software.

Planning for change

There are 3 stages to making a change:1) Awareness2) Make specific written small

plans.3) Practise, practise, practise