Bolton Islamic Girls School
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Bolton Islamic Girls School
Online Safety is an ever growing and changing area of interest and concern. The internet and related technologies, including mobile devices such as phones, gaming media, tablets, and watches, are developing rapidly and are integral to the daily lives of our students.
Many of these technologies are used to enable students to engage creatively with their learning. Socially, our students often use the internet for entertainment, interaction and communication with ‘friends’ – bringing about new risks which many adults were never faced with. It has never been more important for parents and carers to understand how their children use the internet and associated technologies, so that they can help to manage the risks that exist and reinforce the important online safety messages that we should all be promoting.
You can also find out more about how children use social media, the apps they use, the risks they face, how to use privacy settings, and advice and tips about how to talk to your children, at:
WhatsApp have announced a change to their terms and conditions for users based in Europe recently. Users will now need to be 16 to use WhatsApp.
Nearly all other social media services require users to be at least 13 years of age to access and use their services. This includes Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, Musical.ly and Skype.
Whilst there is no age restriction for watching videos on YouTube, users need to be 13 or older to have their own YouTube account (enabling them to subscribe to other channels, like videos, post comments, share their own content and flag inappropriate content).
Tik-Tok: what parents need to know leaflet
Snapchat: What parents need to know leaflet
What I wish my parents knew about online safety poster
The reason most social media services use an age limit of 13 or over is in part because of the COPPA law or Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. This states that any organisations or people operating online services (including social media services) are not allowed to collect the personal information of anyone under the age of 13 without parental permission.
To avoid the necessity of obtaining parental permission for any user under the age of 13, most services have instead chosen to place an age restriction of 13 to their services. They write this rule into their Terms and Conditions – which users must agree to when they initially sign up and some services may ask users to declare their age during sign up.
There is a lot of support available to keep your child safe online. Below are some useful links to help parents and carers:
Reporting Concerns
Teachers, parents and carers can report harmful content as well as bullying and online abuse concerns directly to school and contact info@boltonislamicgirlsschool.org.uk.
Also Get support by:
You can:
Safer Internet Day education materials are available to help to promote safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology for children and young people.
Resources are also available here for parents and carers wanting to help keep your child safe online.
