Social Networking

Are you confused by your Instagrams and your Snapchat, really puzzled by Yo and confused by Periscope. Find out what makes these social networking sites tick by clicking this guidance here. Each entry has a link which will help you to ensure that you use these sites securely and responsibly. 

Parents, are you social networking securely? Ask your son or daughter for help as part of a shared conversation into e.safety. 

Remember to always think before you post when social networking and regardless of your security settings. If you would not be happy for the whole world to view what you write or the images you post don’t put it online. If you would like support with your on-line identity see some of the earlier posts on this blog or raise a specific request via the RGS Whisper service

Personal Resilience

Personal Resilience

The latest PSHE newsletter (Click here) deals with the important subject of personal resilience. Our ability to adapt well when times get tough and we experience significant sources of stress— such as family and friendship problems or exam stress identifies how resilient we are. If you are resilient you will "bounce-back" from difficult experiences but if you do struggle don’t panic resilience is something we can develop, check the guidance on this website .

Parents you can help your children develop their personal resilience The Edutopia website has a range of approaches and studies that can help you to build resilience within your family. The Parent Toolkit also has some useful advice.

Common Sense Media

Are you playing games/watching movies that are appropriate to your age or as a parent would you like to check the age classification  or appropriateness of a game. An excellent USA based website is Common Sense Media (Click here) on this site you can get reviews of games, films, books and apps. The website has heaps of recommendations for positive media that you can view and interact with.

Bullying

Bullying can happen to anyone at any age. Being bullied or witnessing bullying behaviour at school, home or online might involve someone pushing you, hitting you, teasing you, talking about you or calling you names. Nobody has the right to hurt you or make you feel bad. You don't have to deal with things alone. Please see the range of guidance here to help if you have a concern regarding bullying. Remember your mentor, head of house or any member of staff at school will always take your bullying concerns seriously and you can always use our online reporting system Whisper.

Digital Parenting Online

The excellent digital parenting service offered by Vodafone (click here). They also produce an excellent magazine which can now be accessed online here.

'Legal' Highs?

• Recently the drug Methoxetamine was banned by the government under the new temporary class drug order. Formally it was known as a ‘legal high’, a substance which creates the same, or similar effects, to drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy, but is not controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act. The terminology ‘legal high’ is unhelpful since it is illegal to sell, supply or advertise these substances for “human consumption” under current legislation. However, sellers refer to them as research chemicals, plant food, bath crystals or pond cleaner to overcome this. Furthermore, legality is frequently linked with safety yet ‘legal highs’ are far from this for the following reasons -

  • It is being frequently seen that ‘legal highs’ can have similar health risks to drugs like cocaine, ecstasy and speed.
  • Risks of ‘legal highs’ can include reduced inhibitions, drowsiness, excited or paranoid states, coma, seizures, and death.
  • These risks are increased if used with alcohol or other drugs.
  • It is likely that drugs sold as a ‘legal high’ may actually contain one or more substances that are illegal to possess.
  • Since ‘legal highs’ are often new, the risks are unpredictable and the chemical ingredients in a branded product may change without the user’s knowledge. The number of ‘legal highs’ in the UK has been steadily increasing over the past number of years. In 2014, more than 350 new substances were identified breaking all previous records. It is vital that our young people are fully aware of the risks involved.

Risks of ‘legal highs’ can include reduced inhibitions, drowsiness, excited or paranoid states, coma, seizures, and death. 


To find out more about these drugs, their effect, their risks and the law click here.

During their year 10 LVS course, pupils will be learning and discussing about risk taking behavior, including experimenting with legal highs and what effects these drugs can have. For more information about PSHE at RGS please contact: Mr Fisher:Leader of Personal Development & PSHE; Ms Roberts:Personal development PSHE; Well being coordinator for KS3. PSHE is delivered through the APEX curriculum in KS3 and through LVS in KS4.

Making the internet a better place.

The theme of Internet Safety Day 2016 is Creating a better Internet for all. Please click here to view the assembly presentation from Tuesday.

Keith has some really good thoughts about how to change the way you communicate on line to create a more positive world. Click here to view Keith's words of wisdom.

Click here to view a dramatisation of one young person's experience of cyber bullying which is closely linked to trolling activity.

Remember that you should report any trolling activity to the social network e.g. Facebook, and those whose role it is to protect us e.g. CEOP .or our local police.

Please also discuss your concerns with someone you trust. This could be a parent or older brother or sister at home of in school your Mentor or Head of House. If you would like to like to raise any concerns feel free to use the RGS whisper service.

Grooming

It’s easy to pretend to be someone else on the internet, so you can sometimes end up having conversations with people whose real identities you may not know. The recent tragic case of Breck Bednar.has focused our minds on the fact that while the internet is a wonderful place for learning and socialising we do have to be careful.

Groomers may go to a social network used by young people and pretend to be one of them. They might attempt to gain trust by using fake profile pictures, pretending to have similar interests, offering gifts and saying nice things to you.

Once they have the your trust the groomer often steers the conversation towards their sexual experiences, even asking them to send sexual photographs or videos of themselves. Some may try to set up a meeting, or even blackmail you by threatening to share the pictures or videos with your family and friends.

Groomers will manipulate you and try to gain your trust. It is really important that if you are worried that someone is grooming you then follow the guidance here and if you wish to report concerns click here or use the RGS whisper service.

There is further advice for parents here and here

New gaming devices for Xmas

As the decorations are boxed away and the excitement of Christmas dies down it may be worth taking a minute or two to consider the online safety of any new devices purchased this year. The guide located here and produced by the Safer Internet Centre could be a good starting point. Remember that the best approach to esafety is one that is based on shared interest in keeping safe and there are some good tips here about how to start that conversation in your household.