Good morning, 

You are receiving this alert because you are shown as a parent or teacher within our system, again my apologies if your children are outside of the category this alert is aimed towards ( first time users of smart phones / teens ).  However, if you know any parents with young children / children who use a smart phone, please forward this email to them as it may contain information they are unaware of, that can help keep their children safe online, and prevent them from unintentionally committing offences.

Please let me know how useful you have found this alert by using the voting buttons below.  I have timed this alert for the return to school as historically this is when lots of children obtain their first smart phone; for example because they are now walking themselves into secondary school.  If you would like any further information or advice to the below please let me know.

We try to get into schools as frequently as we can, and for the teachers receiving this alert- if you would like a visit to cover this topic 
(or another visit if we have already covered this topic), please let me know by reply.  
Sadly I can only offer this within the area I work in; Farnborough.  If you are reading this and work outside of this area, please contact us via 101 and ask for your local bobby to make contact with you.

Smart phones:

Something we come across frequently, is ‘youngsters’ getting themselves into trouble, because they have not yet mastered the ability to sensibly use their smart phones.  I have included below a few areas we come across regularly, if you would like any further information please let me know:

Instagram, tik tok, snapchat, you tube, facebook, generally all social media apps require the user to be aged 13 or over.  The content on these sites is not regulated like it is on TV Channels, and so we cannot be sure our children won't stumble across inappropriate content for their ages.

Group chat groups- whatever platform your child uses to communicate, children communicating in group chats regularly get drawn into disputes.  These ‘conversations’ can really quickly take a turn and it is not uncommon for unkind / harassing / even threats to be made.  We have completed many visits in relation to threats made via a group chat environment; the child themselves cannot explain how they came to write the comment, and more often than not it is completely out of their character.  Aside from this being very unpleasant for the recipient, and in a way it can take bullying out of the school grounds and into the home because we are so accessible on our devices; it's also likely to mean the child sending the unkind message is committing a criminal offence.  We are unlikely to seek a prosecution against them, but it is important they understand these consequences.

Most alarmingly is that some children (young teenagers mainly), use their smart phones to take inappropriate photos of themselves, and share these with other people, often their peers.  Once anything is shared with others, or reaches the internet there is no way to control further sharing of that image.  Obviously we deal with each case individually - we complete visits to educate the young person of the risk they are placing themselves at and address safeguarding to keep them safe in future.  We also have to make the young people aware of the very serious offences they are likely to be committing.

Finally, although the above is alarming as a parent, and another area in which we try to keep them safe, phones are not all bad.  As a parent you can ask your children to check in and let you know they've arrived home safe and sound for example.  There are also a number of ‘family apps’ that you can make use of, some have the ability for you to control what is downloaded to your child's phone- asking you to authorise any application downloads.

If you have any concerns please let me know using the reply function, please report any crimes to us via 101 or online for non emergencies to ensure it is responded to appropriately.

Kind Regards

Annette