Online Safety

There have been multiple reports of on-line safety and child protection issues with regards to the use of smartphones, social media and a variety of applications in children and young adults. I have certainly come across numerous examples of safeguarding issues in my work with young adults in clinical care.

I certainly do not wish to scaremonger but, as parents, I believe we have a responsibility to be aware of what our children are accessing on-line and how we can protect them and keep them safe. We must ask ourselves what do children use their phones for in the evenings at night?

For example, a recent survey found that 40% of adolescents interviewed admitted having directly participated in sexting (sending or receiving explicit pictures of themselves or others).