Diamond FamiliesOnline safety
Keeping Children and Young People Safe Online
At Diamond Families, safeguarding children and young people is at the heart of everything we do. This includes helping them to stay safe when using the internet, social media, online games, messaging services, apps and other digital technology.
Technology can provide fantastic opportunities for learning, communication and creativity. However, children and young people can also encounter risks online.
We work with children, young people, families and professionals to promote safe, responsible and positive use of technology.
Our Approach to Online Safety
Online safety is part of our wider safeguarding arrangements.
We help children and young people understand how to:
use technology safely and responsibly;
recognise when something online does not feel right;
protect personal information and passwords;
understand appropriate online relationships and boundaries;
recognise cyberbullying and harmful behaviour;
think carefully before sharing photographs, videos or personal information;
recognise scams, fake accounts and misleading information;
understand that people online may not always be who they say they are;
understand the risks associated with social media, messaging and online gaming;
understand how images and information shared online can become part of their digital footprint;
report inappropriate, upsetting or harmful content; and
ask a trusted adult for help.
Our approach is adapted to the individual needs, age, understanding and communication abilities of each young person.
The Four Areas of Online Risk
We recognise that online safety concerns can generally arise through four main areas:
Content
What children and young people may see online, including inappropriate, harmful, misleading or upsetting material.
Contact
Who children and young people communicate with online and the risk of inappropriate or unsafe contact from others.
Conduct
How a child or young person behaves online, including the way they communicate with and treat others.
Commerce
Risks associated with advertising, online purchases, scams, gambling-style features, financial exploitation and other commercial activity.
Social Media, Messaging and Online Gaming
Social media, messaging apps and online games can help young people communicate and socialise, but they can also create safeguarding risks.
We encourage young people to:
only communicate with people they know and trust;
use appropriate privacy settings;
never share passwords;
avoid sharing personal details such as their address, location or school;
think carefully before sharing photographs or videos;
block and report accounts that make them uncomfortable;
tell an adult if someone asks them to keep an online conversation secret;
never agree to meet someone they have only spoken to online without involving a trusted adult; and
speak to an adult if anything online makes them worried, frightened, embarrassed or uncomfortable.
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place using digital technology. It can include harmful messages, rumours, threatening behaviour, deliberately excluding someone, impersonating another person or sharing photographs or information without permission.
Diamond Families takes cyberbullying seriously.
Children and young people are encouraged not to respond to abusive messages, but instead to save the evidence, block or report the account where appropriate and tell a trusted adult.
Concerns involving bullying, harassment, threats or harmful online behaviour will be managed through our safeguarding and behaviour procedures.
Sharing Images and Personal Information
Children and young people should never feel pressured into sending photographs, videos or personal information online.
Once an image has been sent or posted, it can be difficult to control what happens to it.
If a young person has shared something they regret, or if someone is threatening to share an image of them, they should tell a trusted adult as soon as possible.
They will not be in trouble for asking for help.
Online Sexual Harm and Exploitation
Children and young people may sometimes be contacted online by someone attempting to build a relationship with them for inappropriate or exploitative purposes.
Warning signs can include someone:
asking a child to keep conversations secret;
giving excessive compliments, gifts or online rewards;
asking personal or sexual questions;
requesting photographs or videos;
encouraging conversations to move onto private messaging platforms;
pretending to be younger than they are; or
threatening or blackmailing a child.
Any concerns about online grooming, exploitation or sexual harm should be reported immediately to a member of the Diamond Families safeguarding team.
Where necessary, concerns will be referred to the appropriate safeguarding agencies or police.
Artificial Intelligence and New Technology
Technology continues to develop quickly, including the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI).
We encourage children and young people to understand that information generated by AI may not always be accurate, appropriate or trustworthy.
Young people should not enter private, sensitive or personal information into AI systems and should speak to a member of staff if they are unsure whether a particular technology is appropriate to use.
We will continue to review our online safety arrangements as technology and associated risks develop.
Filtering and Monitoring
Where Diamond Families provides children or young people with access to internet connected technology, appropriate safeguards are considered as part of our safeguarding arrangements.
Our approach aims to reduce access to harmful or inappropriate material while ensuring that technology can still be used appropriately for education and support.
Online safety arrangements are reviewed alongside our wider safeguarding and risk-management procedures.
Working With Parents and Carers
Keeping children safe online works best when families and professionals work together.
We encourage parents and carers to:
talk regularly with their child about what they do online;
take an interest in the games, apps and websites their child uses;
agree clear and realistic boundaries;
use parental controls and privacy settings where appropriate;
discuss online friendships and who their child communicates with;
encourage children to report anything that worries or upsets them;
remind children never to share passwords or personal information;
check age restrictions before allowing access to apps, games or social-media platforms; and
encourage healthy boundaries around screen time and technology use.
Try to keep conversations about online safety open and non-judgemental. Children are more likely to ask for help when they know they can talk about something that has happened without immediately losing access to their device.
If You Are Worried About Something Online
If you are a child or young person and something has happened online that has made you feel worried, uncomfortable, frightened or upset:
Tell someone.
You can speak to:
a member of the Diamond Families team;
our Designated Safeguarding Lead;
a parent or carer;
a teacher or another trusted adult; or
another professional supporting you.
You can show the adult what happened if you feel able to. Screenshots or saved messages can sometimes help, but do not continue a conversation that makes you feel unsafe.
Report a Safeguarding Concern
If you are concerned about the online safety or wellbeing of a child or young person attending Diamond Families, please contact our Designated Safeguarding Lead or safeguarding team.
If a child is in immediate danger, call 999.
Concerns about suspected online abuse, grooming or sexual exploitation can also be reported to the police or through the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command (CEOP).
Useful Online Safety Support
Parents, carers and young people may also find support and advice through:
CEOP
Advice and reporting for concerns about online sexual abuse or exploitation.
Childline
Free confidential support for children and young people.
UK Safer Internet Centre
Online safety information, resources and advice.
Internet Matters
Practical advice for families about social media, gaming, parental controls and online risks.
NSPCC
Advice for parents, carers and children about online safety and safeguarding.
Our Commitment
At Diamond Families, we want children and young people to feel confident using technology while understanding how to protect themselves and others.
Online safety is not about frightening young people or preventing them from using technology. It is about giving them the knowledge, confidence and support to make safer choices and to know where to go for help when something goes wrong.
If something online doesn’t feel right — tell someone.
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/#guides
https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents
https://www.getsafeonline.org/