Minecraft Parent Guidance
Minecraft is played by millions of children around the world, who can use their imagination to build three-dimensional worlds with virtual building blocks in a digital, pixelated landscape. The risks that parents need to be aware of with this game include cyberbullying, “griefing“, online grooming and susceptibility to viruses and malware.
This guide aims to give parents and teachers practical tips on how to ensure this game can be enjoyed safely.
Please share this free guide for your whole school community by retweeting our guide here: https://twitter.com/natonlinesafety/status/1011992663002963969
Many thanks for your continued support and for helping us to achieve a safer online world for children. 
Warnings around ‘Yellow’ APP!
A quick information share, for those of you familiar with the social media app ‘Yellow’ it has had a name change to ‘Yubo’: https://www.net-aware.org.uk/news/yellow-changes-its-name-yubo/ If you are less familiar this app is based on similar principles to Tinder or Grindr where the user swipes right or left and make a decision to ‘like’ or ‘connect’ with someone based on a photo and short bio. Some have highlighted that this is ‘Tinder for teens or children’. As always this poses a risk of children and young people making contact with people they do not know so it is important to share information and encourage ongoing conversations about using the internet safely and developing digital awareness and resilience. With the new name changes some guidance for parents and teens has also been launched and can be accessed via the link above. Key things you need to know:
- You must not be under the age of 13 if you are using Yubo.
- There is no way to verify your age when you sign up to Yubo. This means that all children and adults can get access to this app.
- There are no privacy setting options and no way to block users.
- Instagram and Snapchat can also be linked to your account. If you have your location settings on with these apps it will also sync with location settings.
- Users can see all personal information that you post on your account.
- You can have a look at Yellow’s safety page where you can report concerns about the app
Welcome to the new Online Safety Information Blog!
Here is some useful information about services offered by 02 and the NSPCC in partnership in relation to online safety:
- Anyone can call the free O2 NSPCC Online Safety Helpline on 0808 800 5002 for guidance, support and answering questions to manage devices or issues regarding social media.
- You can download the Net Aware app on the App Store or Google Play. This will help to guide you through what technology and Apps children are using at this point in time.
- You can pop into your local O2 store for online safety help from a Guru – you don’t even have to be an O2 customer! Or book a session online using this link. https://guru.secure.force.com/O2DeskStoreLocator
– Everybody Plays is website aimed at helping families get the most out of games, safely. They run a parent-focused hub called the Parent’s Guide to Games, a one stop shop that contains everything parents need to know, from easy to follow guides on how to set up parental controls on consoles, to game by game breakdowns of content and safeguarding issues, and general advice on online gaming safety. Website: www.everybodyplays.co.uk | www.parentsguidetogames.co.uk
https://www.internetmatters.org/resources/online-gaming-advice/
Support for parents and carers to keep children safe online
Options for reporting or talking through online problems:
CEOP
The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre is dedicated to eradicating the sexual abuse of children. It is part of UK policing and very much about tracking and bringing offenders to account either directly or in partnership with local and international forces. Anybody with concerns that a pupil is being groomed or sexually exploited, including involvement in Sexting, should contact them directly using the link below. I would strongly recommend that if possible, you also contact Mr Lindsay or any member of the Safeguarding team here at Hurworth as we may need to make additional referrals to Children’s Services.
www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre
Childline Instant Help
The link provided below will take you to the Childline website where you can click the explore button to find out more about topics such as Cyber Bullying and Online and Mobile Safety. More importantly if you click on the 1 to 1 Chat Online link you can contact a Childline counsellor in a 1 to 1 online chat (like instant messenger) about any online problems. Childline state that no problem is too big or too small.
ThinkUKnow
Here you can find the latest information on websites, mobiles and new technology. Find out what’s good, what’s not and what you can do about it. If you look after young people, there’s an area for you too with resources you can use at home or just to get yourself up to speed with the latest developments. Most importantly, there’s also a place which anyone can use to report if they feel uncomfortable or worried about someone they are chatting to online.
Here you can find a parents/carers guide to safely stream online and share images.
Delivering Online Safety at Home
Internet Watch Foundation
If you have inadvertently stumbled across potentially illegal online content, specifically images of child sexual abuse, criminally obscene material or anything that incites racial hatred then please submit a report to the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF). The IWF works in partnership with the police, government, the online industry and the public to combat this type of material and you are helping to make the internet safer for all by taking this action.
Options for finding information about online safety guidance:
All the websites listed above have both reporting tools and sections of information and advice relating to e-safety. In addition to these you may find the following useful:
The Twitter feed from the CEOP website has many tweets with up to date information about online safety. It covers the type of current activity taking place not only across the UK but also specifically what is happening regionally.
Get Safe Online
Get Safe Online is the UK’s leading source of unbiased, factual and easy-to-understand information on online safety.