Dear Parents and Carers,
As half term is nearly upon us and your children will be enjoying using their devices during the holiday I thought it may be useful for you to have some information on how to set parental controls on devices to ensure your children are accessing age appropriate content.
The parental controls on smartphones allow you to block or restrict certain apps, features, content, downloads or purchases that might not be suitable for young people. Setting limitations around age ratings, Siri and web searches enables you to filter out age-inappropriate content and vastly reduce the likelihood of your children being exposed to potentially upsetting material and information.
In the attached guide, you’ll find information on a number of tips such as: sexting, strangers and excessive use. I have also included some information on using WhatsApp.
WhatsApp is the world’s most popular messaging service, with around two billion users exchanging texts, photos, videos and documents, as well as making voice and video calls. The App offers end-to-end encryption, meaning messages can only be read by the sender and the recipient(s). Not even WhatsApp can read them. Updates to its privacy policy in 2021 reportedly caused millions of users to leave the App. But the new policy was widely misinterpreted: it only related to WhatsApp’s business features, not to personal messages.
In the guide, you’ll find tips on a number of potential risks such as stranger danger, live location sharing and disappearing messages. I hope you find all the E-Safety information useful.
I hope you enjoy a relaxing week,
Best wishes to you and your family
Debbie Houghton
E-Safety Coordinator