Online Safety
Technology is an important part of children’s lives. It provides opportunities to learn, communicate, create and connect with others, but it can also expose children and young people to harm.
At Meridian High School, online safety is an integral part of safeguarding. We help students develop the knowledge and confidence to recognise online risks, make safe choices and know where to seek help when something goes wrong.
Online safety is addressed through the curriculum, PSHE, tutor time, assemblies and safeguarding education. Staff also receive regular updates about emerging online risks.
Keeping children safe online
The online world changes quickly. Children may encounter risks through social media, messaging services, gaming, livestreaming, websites, online communities and artificial intelligence (AI).
Online risks can include:
- cyberbullying, harassment and hate;
- harmful or age-inappropriate content;
- grooming and sexual exploitation;
- pressure to send or share nude or sexual images;
- sextortion and blackmail;
- contact from people they do not know;
- sharing personal information, images or location data;
- scams, fraud and financial exploitation;
- misinformation, disinformation and extremist content;
- harmful content relating to self-harm, suicide or eating disorders;
- pornography and other age-inappropriate sexual content;
- AI-generated or manipulated images, including sexualised deepfakes and 'nudification' tools; and
- unhealthy or excessive use of technology.
Advice for parents and carers
Parents and carers do not need to be technology experts to help keep their children safe online.
One of the most important things you can do is talk regularly with your child about their online life. Conversations are often more effective when they happen routinely rather than only after something has gone wrong.
We encourage parents and carers to:
- take an interest in the apps, games, websites and AI tools their child uses;
- talk about who they communicate with online;
- check the age requirements for apps, games and social media platforms;
- use appropriate privacy settings and parental controls;
- review settings regularly as children get older and technology changes;
- check whether location sharing is switched on;
- encourage children to use strong passwords and keep them private;
- talk about what information, photographs and videos are safe to share;
- remind children that content shared privately can be copied, altered or shared with others;
- discuss how AI can be used to create convincing fake images, video and information;
- help children think critically about whether online information is reliable;
- encourage children to block and report accounts that make them uncomfortable; and
- make sure children know that they can tell a trusted adult if something goes wrong.
Online Safety Advice for Parents & Carers
Artificial Intelligence, deepfakes and manipulated images
Artificial intelligence provides many positive opportunities, but it can also be misused.
Images of children taken from social media, websites or messaging services can be altered using AI to create fake nude, semi-nude or sexual images. These are sometimes referred to as deepfakes or nudified images.
Young people may also encounter AI-generated misinformation, impersonation, scams and content designed to appear genuine.
We encourage parents and carers to talk to children about:
- thinking carefully about photographs they make publicly available;
- keeping social media accounts and photographs appropriately private;
- never creating or sharing sexualised images of another child, including as a 'joke';
- questioning whether images, video, audio or information they see online are genuine; and
- telling a trusted adult immediately if an image of them has been created, altered or shared without their consent.
The Internet Watch Foundation and National Crime Agency provide specific guidance for parents and carers about protecting children from AI-generated sexual imagery.
Protecting Children from AI Image Abuse
If something goes wrong online
If your child tells you about something that has happened online, try to remain calm and listen to what they tell you.
Depending on what has happened:
- reassure them that telling you was the right thing to do;
- do not blame or punish them for telling you;
- if sexual imagery is involved, do not ask your child to show, send or forward the image to you;
- where appropriate, keep details such as usernames, account names, URLs and relevant messages;
- block the person or account where appropriate;
- use the reporting tools available on the platform;
- report the concern using the appropriate service below; and
- contact the Meridian Safeguarding Team if you are worried about your child.
If your child is being threatened or blackmailed, particularly in relation to sexual images, do not pay the person making the demand.
How to report an online concern
Different organisations deal with different types of online harm.
Worried about something affecting a Meridian student?
Students can speak to any member of staff, speak directly to the Safeguarding Team or report a concern through SHARP.
Students can report something that has happened to them or something they are worried is happening to somebody else.
Parents and carers can also contact the school Safeguarding Team if they are concerned about something affecting their child online.
Someone is sexually abusing, grooming or exploiting a child online
The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command (CEOP) is part of the National Crime Agency.
A child or parent/carer can make a report to CEOP when they are concerned about online sexual abuse, grooming or sexual exploitation, including where somebody is pressuring or threatening a child to send sexual images.
CEOP is not the appropriate reporting service for ordinary bullying, fake accounts or account hacking.
CEOP – Report Online Sexual Abuse or Grooming
I have found child sexual abuse images or videos online
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) provides a safe and anonymous way to report child sexual abuse images and videos found on the internet.
Reports are assessed by specialist analysts and action can be taken to have illegal content removed.
Do not download, save or share the material in order to report it.
IWF – Report Child Sexual Abuse Images or Videos
A nude or sexual image of a young person has been shared
Report Remove is a free service for young people under 18 who are worried that a nude or sexual image or video of themselves has been shared online.
The service is provided by Childline and the Internet Watch Foundation and can help a young person report an image and seek to have it removed from the internet.
Young people can also access support from Childline while using the service.
Report Remove – Help Get an Image Removed
Bullying, harassment or other harmful content online
Report Harmful Content provides information about how to report harmful material directly to commonly used online platforms.
It can help with issues including:
- bullying and harassment;
- impersonation;
- threats;
- unwanted sexual advances; and
- other harmful content.
Child sexual abuse imagery should not be reported through Report Harmful Content. It should be reported to the Internet Watch Foundation.
Report Harmful Content
Please click the button below to report harmful content on the Internet.
Parental controls and privacy settings
Parental controls can help families manage the content children can access, screen time, downloads, spending and communication.
Controls can usually be applied at several levels:
1. Your internet or mobile network
Use your broadband or mobile provider's family controls.
2. Your child's device
Use the parental controls available on phones, tablets, computers and games consoles.
3. Individual apps, games and platforms
Check privacy, content, communication and purchasing settings within the services your child uses.
Internet Matters provides step-by-step instructions for a wide range of devices, apps, games and services.
Set Up Parental Controls – Internet Matters
Parental controls are helpful, but no technical system can replace regular conversations with your child about their online experiences.
Useful online safety support
UK Safer Internet Centre
Advice and resources for parents, carers and young people covering common online safety issues.
UK Safer Internet Centre – Parents & Carers
Childline
Confidential advice and support for children and young people about anything that is worrying them, including things that happen online.
0800 1111
Internet Matters
Practical advice for families, including step-by-step parental control and privacy guides.
CEOP
Report concerns about online sexual abuse, grooming or exploitation of a child.
Internet Watch Foundation
Anonymously report child sexual abuse images or videos found online.
If a child is in immediate danger
If a child is in immediate danger or at immediate risk of harm, call 999.
If you are unsure whether something that has happened online is a safeguarding concern, tell us anyway.
You do not need to decide whether something meets a particular threshold before asking for help.
