The BBC are today reporting on a study by the University of Middlesex which attempts to give an indication of the scale of inappropriate sexual material being accessed by school-aged children. Key findings of the study include: About 53% of 11- to 16-year-olds have seen explicit material online. 14% of the young people who responded Read more about Scale of exposure of children to pornography[…]

The BBC recently reported on an accusation by Labour that the government is ‘refusing to protect the smartphone generation’. The report states… Of 39 police forces in England, 18 responded to Labour’s request for information. In 2013, the 18 forces investigated 51 cases of under-16s “sending or receiving explicit messages and images on a mobile Read more about Government “refusing to protect the smartphone generation”?[…]

“I think it’s just to get attention. It’s to get the likes. Everything’s about the likes.” This is the explanation as to why teenage girls are posting sexualised pictures online in a new book, ‘American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Life of Teenagers’ by Nancy Jo Sales. The book paints a disturbing portrait of Read more about “Everything’s about the likes”[…]

To mark this year’s Safer Internet Day (9th February), the UK Safer Internet Centre released results of a survey of over 1,500 teenagers. Though sad to read, the statistics generated were unsurprising. Key findings included: One in four teenagers suffered hate incidents online last year. One in 25 said they were singled out for abuse Read more about A quarter of UK teenagers suffered online abuse last year[…]

All schools will be required to put in place strengthened measures to protect children from harm online – including cyber bullying, pornography and the risk of radicalisation. The DfE published draft proposals on this to schools for a consultation process which ended on 16th February 2016. Under these proposals, all schools will: need to have Read more about New measures to keep children safe online at school and at home[…]