Guidance: Social Media
Parents and Carers are advised to view the following guidance related to the use of 'Selfies' and Social Media.
https://www.youtube.com/user/ceop
D f E Advice & Guidance
The school continues to educate students about the dangers associated with the internet and social media. Parents and carers may like to know that a booklet has been produced by the Department of Education which provides useful advice and guidance on cyberbullying.
Please click on the attachment at the bottom of the page to access the booklet.
The links below that can be of immediate help are listed here:
https://www.internetmatters.org/
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-is-child-abuse/types-of-abuse/bullying-and-cyberbullying/
https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/professionals/
https://www.internetmatters.org/
Useful links for online image sharing and where to report harmful content
This is a removal tool for nudes of under 18 year olds which is very powerful:
https://reportharmfulcontent.com/child/
https://reportharmfulcontent.com/advice/other/further-advice/downloads/
Apps and platforms - a parents guide
https://www.internetmatters.org/hub/?tab=apps-platforms
Device Rules and Boundaries
To help set boundaries around the use of devices the, FOSI (The Family Online Safety Institute) have put together some really simple agreement sheets for parents which you can download for free.
TikTok parents guide
https://www.openvieweducation.co.uk/tiktok-parent-guide/
A guide for parents and carers around online child abuse
https://talk.iwf.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/A-guide-for-parents-and-carers-v7.pdf
https://stopabusetogether.campaign.gov.uk/
YouTube supervised experience
AI CSAM
AI CSAM (Artificial intelligence Child Abuse Material) is where students are being targeted by offenders, and students creating Artificial Intelligence generated CSAM of other students is now real and is being reported by schools worldwide, including here in the UK (see a short article in The Guardian HERE).
Very simplistically, two types of incidents are being seen:
- Offenders (often from other countries) de-clothing innocent images of students who have posted online, e.g. social media. These are then used for the purpose of blackmail, often with the threat of sharing with school friends/family. This is sextortion.
- Students using innocent images of other students (e.g. posted on social media), de-clothing them using AI, then sharing with other students.
So what's the advice?
Firstly, the most important point of all is that any AI CSAM image/video is treated as real regardless of the circumstance. Forget the fact that it is AI-generated; treat it as real media, and you should follow your standard safeguarding policy/procedures plus the guidance for schools - Sharing Nudes and Semi-Nudes.
Secondly, talk to students about this and ensure (in a balanced, age-appropriate manner) what is happening. Explain the legality and re-iterate the importance of keeping accounts private where possible and to consider what they are posting online. You have to be careful with this, as it can unintentionally come across as victim-blaming.
Make sure you give students avenues for support, such as a member of staff to talk to, another trusted adult (e.g. parent, carer) and a really important one, the Childline/IWF Report Remove tool. This is particularly important as many students who are victims will not report to an adult for a variety of reasons. The IWF have confirmed that they will respond to and deal with AI generated imagery in the same way they would real imagery
For Parents - What are Social Media Scams?
With online scams on the rise worldwide, particularly at this time of year, it's important we are all aware of what scams are, the common types of scams and helpful tips. Internet Matters have a great information page for parents with lots of useful information, but I think there is a lot of really useful information to use in the classroom too. You can find all the information HERE.