Safeguarding Children in the use of Electronic Media

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• 1. Statement of Purpose
• 2. What are we Talking About?
• 3. Strategic Objectives for Safety in the Use of Electronic Media
• 4. E-Safety and Acceptable use of Electronic Media
• 5. The Use of Behaviour Management or Disciplinary Procedures
• 6. Responding to Concerns About The Safety of Children and Young People
• 7. Responding to Concerns about the Use of Electronic Media by Staff and Volunteers 
• 8. Promoting a Safe Environment For Children Using Electronic Media
• 9. Useful Signposts
• 10. Flow Chart of Responding to Concerns

1. Statement of Purpose 

1.1 Tameside Safeguarding Children Board (TSCB) is tasked to ensure that all necessary steps are taken by all agencies and organisations to protect every child and young person in Tameside from harm. This guidance sets out what is expected from everybody in protecting children and young people from harm when they use electronic media of communication.

1.2 This guidance is intended to set out the principles of good practice in safeguarding children and young people from abuse or harm when they use electronic media. It should be used to inform single-agency procedures on both e-safety and the Acceptable Use of electronic media.

1.3 E-safety is not an ICT issue. It may involve the use of ICT but it is about protecting children and young people from harm. If you have a concern about actual significant harm to a child or young person, or the risk of significant harm, then go immediately to section 6 in this guidance.

1.4 Every child and young person in Tameside should be able to participate in an enjoyable and safe environment and be protected from abuse. This is the responsibility of every adult in Tameside. The use of electronic media for communication and learning has massively increased in recent years. This offers many benefits and this procedure is not intended to curtail that potential for fun, entertainment and learning. However, electronic media also pose some risks for children and young people if they are unaware of the way that information can be used by people with ill-intent to exploit or abuse them.

1.5 Child abuse is a very emotive and difficult subject for everyone involved. When electronic media is used to carry out the abuse it can be even more challenging because many people who are significant in the child’s life will not be very knowledgeable about the way that the electronic media work. Indeed it is likely that the child or young person will know more than the adults around them about how to use the media.

1.6 It is important to understand the feelings involved but not to allow them to interfere with our judgement about any action to be taken. Everyone should recognise their responsibility to safeguard the welfare of all children and young people by protecting them from physical, sexual or emotional abuse, neglect and bullying.

1.7 This policy reflects the purpose of the Tameside Safeguarding Board (TSCB) and the content of the TSCB Child Protection Procedures (contained in Tameside Safeguarding Children Framework).

These include the following principles:

• The welfare of the child is paramount
• All children, whatever their age, culture, disability, gender, language, racial origin, religious beliefs and/or sexual identity, have the right to protection from abuse, including neglect, bullying and exploitation.
• All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately

2. What are we talking about?

2.1 As has already been said, knowledge about electronic media can be patchy so first it is important to be clear what the forms of communication we are talking about here.

2.2 This policy covers the use of the following forms of electronic media and technology (this list is not exhaustive especially as electronic media is changing so rapidly):

• Computers
• Lap-tops
• Mobile phones
• Camera phones
• E mail
• Instant messaging
• Texts
• Bluetooth technology
• Chatrooms
• Social networking websites
• Blogs
• Video
• Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)
• Games consoles
• Video conferencing Webcams
• Podcasting On-line games

3. Strategic Objectives for safety in the use of electronic media

3.1 Byron (2008) classifies the online risks to children in terms of content, contact and conduct. Byron goes on to say that to reduce risks means achieving three objectives.

Objective 1: Reduce Availability

Reduce the availability of harmful and inappropriate content, the prevalence of harmful and inappropriate contact and the conduciveness of platforms to harmful and inappropriate conduct;

Objective 2: Restrict Access

Equip children and their parents to effectively manage access to harmful and inappropriate content, avoid incidences of harmful and inappropriate contact and reduce harmful and inappropriate conduct;

Objective 3: Increase Resilience

Equip children to deal with exposure to harmful and inappropriate content and contact, and equip parents to help their children deal with these things and parent effectively around incidences of harmful and inappropriate conduct by their children.

3.2 Therefore any e-safety policy should address these objectives. In particular, the third objective is very important. If children and their parents can be empowered to safely manage the availability of and access to harmful contact, content and conduct then it will be less necessary for agencies to impose restrictions on availability and access.

4. E – safety and acceptable use of electronic media

4.1 Agencies usually want their staff and service users to use electronic media acceptably and safely. Acceptable use policies tend to concentrate on protecting the agency’s resources (in this case, electronic media resources) and reputation, whereas e-safety policies are usually concerned with the welfare of individual users.

4.2 One way to think about this is the example of the use of social networking websites by children and young people. This use may raise several concerns, including:

i. agencies may wish to restrict access to social networking websites because they are concerned about the use of them by children and young people to obtain offensive material. This is often treated as a concern about the acceptable use of electronic media.

ii. the use of social networking websites by children and young people can put a large amount of personal information into a public domain. Therefore, agencies may wish to restrict access to social networking websites because they are concerned about the opportunity it gives to people to abuse children and young people through the access they gain to them in these sites. This is a concern about e-safety.

4.3 However it is plain to see that these concerns about e-safety and acceptable use can overlap. In the first example, consideration should also be given to whether the young person’s use of offensive material is a concern about their welfare and safety. It will be necessary for the practitioner and their manager to assess every individual incident in respect of both e-safety and acceptable use.

5. The use of behaviour management or disciplinary policies

5.1 Single-agency Acceptable Use policies often include a contingency for action to be taken against the child or young person who has carried out unacceptable use. These actions are usually to activate behaviour management procedures (or disciplinary procedures in the some settings). It may be appropriate for agencies to respond to the unacceptable use by children and young people of electronic media by activating behaviour management or disciplinary procedures. But, if there has been an incident of potential or actual harm to the child or young person, caution should be taken in the use of such procedures as, in such circumstances, it may not be in the best interests of the welfare of the child.

6. Responding to concerns about the safety of children and young people

6.1 When there are concerns about the welfare of a child or young person arising from the use of electronic media then the agency should use its usual safeguarding children procedures and good practice to respond to these. In this sense the context of electronic media is no different to other situations where there is a concern about a child’s welfare.

6.2 If there is a concern about actual significant harm or the risk of significant harm to a child or young person arising from the use of electronic media then the agency should immediately activate its own safeguarding children or child protection procedures, use the TSCB Safeguarding Children Framework and make a referral to Children’s Social Care. Again this is no different to concerns in other situations. If a child or young person is in immediate danger then contact the Police on 999.

6.3 As mentioned above, there can be some confusion over whether the incident(s) of concern should be responded to using the Acceptable Use policies that schools and other agencies often have.

6.4 When an incident raises concerns both about significant harm and unacceptable use, the first and paramount consideration should always be the welfare and safety of the child or young person directly involved.

6.5 As mentioned at 4.3 above, the use of offensive material by a young person may be an example. While it is important that agencies inform service users that such use is unacceptable and should take steps to prevent it, consideration should be given to whether the use of such material by a child or young person is an indicator of concern about the child or young person’s welfare.

7. Responding to concerns about the use of electronic media by staff and volunteers

7.1 If staff (paid/unpaid) use electronic media in ways that cause concern then this will usually be dealt with under the auspices of the acceptable use policy or procedure of the agency.

7.2 However, if that use by staff or volunteers amounts to a concern about an abusive relationship with, or harmful behaviour towards, a child or young person then the Tameside Safeguarding Children Framework procedures should be activated. Specifically, steps should be taken by the agency as set out in the TSCB Management of Allegations against Staff procedure. This will include consultation with the agency’s designated senior manager in respect of allegations and subsequently with the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO).

8. Promoting a safe environment for children using electronic media

8.1 Creating a safe environment for the use of electronic media is as much about a safe working culture and practices as it is about putting into place technical safeguards. This section sets out actions that agencies are recommended to take in creating the safe environment, and areas to consider in doing so.

8.2 Drawing on the work of Becta, there are 3 components to creating a safe environment,

• an infrastructure of whole-school awareness, designated responsibilities, policies and procedures
• an effective range of technological tools
• a comprehensive electronic media safety education programme for the whole school community.

Recommended Action: Appoint an e-safety co-ordinator

8.2 All agencies and organisations that work with children and young people should appoint a member or members of the agency as e-safety co-ordinator(s).

8.3 The e-safety co-ordinator should have expertise at above foundation level in:

• Electronic media
• Behaviour management
• Child protection

8.4 If there is not one single person in the agency that has this level of expertise then the agency can appoint up to 3 people to fulfil the function of e-safety co-ordinator and these people should operate as a team with access to common systems.

8.5 The e-safety co-ordinator should monitor minor incidents to identify trends in the behaviour of children and young people, and should react proactively to any emerging issues. This might include raising awareness on a particular e-safety topic at a school assembly or by arranging additional training for staff.

Recommended Action: Establish a regular e-safety review process

8.6 It is important to periodically review the agency’s e-safety and acceptable use policies, to see if they should be modified in any way. This should be done in consultation with all stakeholders, including staff, volunteers, children, young people, parents and carers. The review should be recorded, setting out issues identified, action to be taken and responsibility for the actions.

Recommended Action: Carry out an Urgent e-safety review following a serious incident

8.7 In the event of a serious incident involving electronic media occurring within an agency, it is essential that a review of all e-safety and acceptable use policies and procedures is conducted as soon as possible. The senior manager responsible for the agency’s operations would have ultimate responsibility for the review process, but may delegate this to the e-safety co-ordinator(s).

8.8 The key components of a safe technological learning environment should also be reviewed, ensuring that:

• comprehensive debriefing occurs after the incident to maximise what can be learnt
• the network manager has the professional skills to carry out regular safety checks, and knows the correct protocols to follow if illegal material is suspected or encountered
• all staff and volunteers understand the circumstances under which a forensic audit of computers should be carried out, and by whom, and the appropriate strategies to adopt to ensure that evidence is secured and preserved
• the agency’s approach to e-safety should include ensuring that all staff and volunteers have relevant expertise and knowledge, and that the appropriate time and authority is allocated to the team to allow them to carry out their duties effectively.

Areas to consider in creating a safe e-environment

8.9 It would not be appropriate for this policy to be prescriptive about how to do this. However, the recommendations of the Byron Review and the resources of Becta and CEOPS should be used by agencies to ensure that the safest possible environment can be created for children and young people to get the most benefit and enjoyment from electronic media. These and other resources are signposted in section 9 below.

8.10 The most obvious areas to consider here are in the following list. However to a large extent the steps needed to create a safe e-environment will be determined by the agency or organisation context.

i. Report any inappropriate behaviour and content accessed through electronic media to CEOP and IWF (see signposts for further details).

ii. Involve children, young people and their parents & carers in the drafting of information material about the risks involved in using electronic media.

iii. Information material would usefully include information on how children and young people can protect themselves in the use of electronic media and how parents and carers can help them do this.

iv. Produce an e-safety Workforce and User Development Plan. This sets out how the agency or organisation intends to provide opportunities for staff, volunteers and service users to develop best practice.

v. Use the Becta publication, E-safety Developing whole-school policies to support effective practice to help achieve the safe environment. It is focused on school settings but provides useful guidance for other agencies, when adapted appropriately. http://publications.becta.org.uk/

9. Useful signposts

Tameside Safeguarding Children Framework The Safeguarding Children Framework sets out the procedures to respond to concerns about child abuse, harm and protection in Tameside. It is available as a hard copy to every team of practitioners working with children and families in Tameside. It can also be accessed at: http://www.tameside.gov.uk/safeguardingframework 

Tameside Safeguarding Children Board (TSCB)  The TSCB publishes the Safeguarding Children Framework and a series of other procedures and guidance which can be accessed at:http://www.tameside.gov.uk/childprotection

If you would like to have further information about the work of the TSCB then refer to the web-pages above, or using the following contact details:

TSCB
Union Street Building
Union Street
Hyde
SK14 1ND

0161 342 4348

Tameside Children’s Needs Framework  The Children’s Needs Framework will support earlier help for children and families by providing a tool for all practitioners to identify needs and a consistent approach to co-ordinating services. It is a companion volume to the Tameside Safeguarding Children Framework and is published by the Tameside Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership. It can be accessed at:http://www.tameside.gov.uk/cypp

there4me  There4me is a site where you can have a private one-to-one chat with someone from the children's charity NSPCC. There4me says, "there4me is for you if you're between 12-16 years old and are worried about something and need some help. We can help with loads of issues like abuse, bullying, exams, drugs and self harm. If there's something bad that's happening and you want to know what to do, you can talk to us and no one else has to know." http://www.there4me.com/home/index.asp

Childline  ChildLine is the free helpline for children and young people in the UK. Children and young people can call on 0800 1111 to talk about any problem – counsellors are always here to help you sort it out. http://www.childline.org.uk/

Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP)  The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre is part of UK police and is dedicated to protecting children from sexual abuse wherever they may be. It provides a range of training and information resources and can be accessed at:http://www.ceop.gov.uk/

thinkuknow  CEOP has a separate website for children, young people, parents, carers and practitioners and this gives advice on how children and young people can keep safe and in control when they are online. It also has information on how these groups of people can report concerns about harmful behaviour online. This can be accessed at: http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/

Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) Inappropriate or harmful material online can be reported to the IWF. More details are at:http://www.iwf.org.uk/reporting.htm

Home office task force on child protection on the internet The task force has useful guidance on a range of issues in respect of protecting children and young people on the internet. http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/operational-policing/crime-disorder/child-protection-taskforce

Becta  Becta is the Government's lead agency for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in education, covering the United Kingdom. Becta leads the national drive to inspire and lead the effective and innovative use of technology throughout learning. It's Becta’s ambition to create a more exciting, rewarding and successful experience for learners of all ages and abilities enabling them to achieve their potential. Find out more at:http://www.becta.org.uk/

Childnet International  Childnet International’s mission is to work in partnership with others around the world to help make the Internet a great and safe place for children. In all its work Childnet seeks to take a balanced approach promoting the positive and highlighting the creative and inspiring ways children and young people are using the medium for good. You can also read about the ways to respond to the negative aspects and dangers for children.http://www.childnet-int.org/about/

Byron Review Dr Byron’s review, Safer Children in a Digital World: the report of the Byron Review sets out a comprehensive package of measures to help children and young people make the most of the internet and video games, while protecting them from harmful and inappropriate material.http://www.dfes.gov.uk/byronreview/

10. Download flowchart of process: 'Responding to Concerns'23.52 KB