Sexting

Parents and students will be interested initiative that ChildLine and the Internet Watch Foundation are taking in relation to “sexting.”  This partnership follows a ChildLine survey of 13-18 year olds which found that young people are often taking significant risks by making and sending sexual images of themselves on the internet or through mobile phones. 

ChildLine has developed an app for young people, which is designed to help them diffuse pressures on them to send an explicit image.  The app, called Zipit, offers witty images to send instead of explicit ones and provides advice on how to engage in safe chat and what to do if you are threatened. 

The NSPCC is complementing the ChildLine initiative by providing advice to parents and carers on what they can do to advise and support their children in relation to “sexting.”  Many children and young people are more savvy about internet and mobile phone technology than their parents, so the advice, posted on the NSPCC website, informs parents about the key issues surrounding sexting and will enable them to have an informed and open discussion with their sons and daughters about the potential risks that sexting can bring.

Whisper

During Anti Bullying Week RGS launched Whisper an online reporting tool for students to use if they have any school problems or worries eg bullying, peer issues, school work, stress and anxiety.

Reporting issues is a very effective way to enable us to be able to deal with risks before they escalate into harm and we already have ways in which students can seek support but we understand that sometimes face to face conversations are difficult.

Whisper is an anonymous reporting service for students that allows them to send a message or text to a confidential school email account where the safe guarding team experienced in responding to issues will receive it.

How does it work?

Clicking on the Whisper button will take students to an online form where you can leave your message. Students can choose to send it anonymously or, if students want us to get back to them, they can leave their contact details. Whisper does not collect any information to identify a sender unless they choose to leave it.

Students can also send an anonymous text by following the SMS instructions . Again, Whisper will not store any personal information if students use this service. Whisper reports are checked daily by the safeguarding team. Please note: Whisper is not checked at the weekends or during the school holidays.

Full details of how to use Whisper can be found in posters around the school.

Facebook rolls out Graph Search for UK English users

Facebook announced the roll-out of Graph Search for UK English users of Facebook. Graph Search will give Facebook users greater ability to share and search so it will have an impact on your privacy - the information you and others can share and find about you. 

 Childnet have put together a series of useful tips to help you manage your privacy click here to access the guidance.