Your Content Goes Here Your Content Goes Here What is the challenge? You might have heard about a recent, tragic incident involving an 11-year-old boy in Lancashire who lost his life after reportedly taking part in a dangerous trend called ‘chroming’ during a sleepover. Chroming involves inhaling various chemicals like
Your Content Goes Here Your Content Goes Here The internet is a constantly changing global forum that is filled with many different types of communities. These communities often allow people to express themselves in a way that frees them from what they consider to be societal 'norms.' In
Your Content Goes Here Your Content Goes Here Download resource It is not difficult to imagine harmful or abusive behaviours being present on social media. What can be challenging to deal with is the presence of popular online personalities or influencers who
Your Content Goes Here Your Content Goes Here What is the issue? Our safeguarding experts have been made aware of a viral challenge circulating on TikTok using variations of the hashtag ‘foopah’. A play on the phrase ‘faux pas’ (an embarrassing public act), the trend encourages
Your Content Goes Here Your Content Goes Here Warning The following update includes distressing themes, such as suicide and self-harm acts, that may be triggering for some readers. Due to the popularity of online gaming platform Roblox with children and young people under the age of
This Safeguarding Alert has been published to support parents, carers and safeguarding professionals in protecting children and young people in their care from exposure to explicit sexual content online. What should I do? If your child is a Twitch, Reddit or TikTok user remain calm. They may
Due to the popularity of two of Netflix’s most recent releases, Blonde (a Marilyn Monroe biopic) and Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, our online safety experts have released this Safeguarding Update, which highlights the main risks and concerns associated with the disturbing content in
For this year's International Friendship Day, we look at why young people are making friends online, what the risks are and provide top tips for you to follow to help keep the young people in your life safer with internet-based friendships. Whether
This guide to deepfakes explains not only what deepfakes are, but also outlines the risks they could pose and provides practical, helpful advice on how to help protect the children and young people in your care. We’ve all had that wow moment when something
As a global community, we have faced a turbulent few years, ruled chiefly by the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions it brought. Now as we enter Spring 2022, the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine has taken over media attention and national concern. We live in a time
4 min read Key Points The spread of misinformation, fake news and conspiracy theories in the UK has reached new heights. According to Ofcom, 61% of people are concerned about the impact of misinformation concerning COVID-19. Children can be targets of misinformation and be more susceptible to believing falsehoods or innocently sharing false information
Incel stands for involuntary celibate. The incel ideology can be complex, with many different subcultures, but it is generally a group of men who feel they are forced to be celibate due to women denying them sex that they feel is owed to them. Incel stands for involuntary celibate. The incel ideology
The phrase ‘dark web’ might bring up all sorts of connotations in your mind, none of which are probably good. For most people, the dark web is a place never ventured to or even given much thought. It’s the other side of the internet, the shadowy depths where criminals and people who are up
Police in Northern Ireland have issued a warning following a surge of recent reports about a WhatsApp scam targeting victims across the region. This scam involves a scammer pretending to be a child or relative asking their loved ones for money via a WhatsApp message. Superintendent Gerard Pollock, Chair of
Due to the popularity of Netflix’s most recent viral show, Squid Game, our online safety experts have received several questions about it from concerned parents, carers, and teachers. We decided to release a Safeguarding Update that highlights the main risks and concerns our experts found when researching the show. What is Squid Game? Squid
Online Safety Alert Our online safety experts have been alerted to the concept of ‘Gacha Heat’ videos using the characters and backgrounds from the popular roleplaying game Gacha Life. These videos contain characters and backgrounds made on Gacha Studio which is part of their suite of apps. The ‘Gacha
This contains sensitive information and should not be shared with anyone below the age of 18 years old. Safeguarding Alert Our online safety experts have been alerted to a potentially viral TikTok trend. The trend focuses on people recording “reaction videos” while searching for a term that brings them to a specific type of illegal, sexual online content. From what our experts have discovered, the explicit material
Urgent Online Safety Alert Why are you receiving this alert? Our online safety experts have been alerted to an extremely dangerous website and app called ‘Monkey’, which allows users to have video calls with strangers. The platform markets itself as ‘an alternative to Omegle, with a TikTok vibe’. Our online safety
Why have you received this alert? We have been alerted to the risk of potential grooming and abuse on the Avakin Life platform by members of our network. Our online safeguarding experts have reviewed and tested the game, and discovered a number of potential risks to young people. The major risk is that
We’re sharing urgent concerns about conversations happening online on TikTok, about 'Megan is Missing’, a movie being discussed on social media and shared on YouTube. Our online safety experts have observed children and young people discussing the movie on TikTok and seeking out the link to the full film which now has over 4million