We have put together a list of suggested websites, apps and online resources that may be of use to schools and families during this difficult time.
Strengthening privacy and safety for youth on TikTok
At TikTok, we know that creativity and expression are personal. And so is privacy. That’s why we empower our community with a range of controls to manage their online presence. As young people start their digital journey, we believe it’s important to provide them with age-appropriate privacy settings and controls. Today we’re announcing changes for users under age 18 aimed at driving higher default standards for user privacy and safety.
Enhanced default privacy settings
Starting today, we’re changing the default TikTok privacy setting for all registered accounts under the age of 16 to private. With a private TikTok account, only someone who the user approves as a follower can view their videos. We want our younger users to be able to make informed choices about what and with whom they choose to share, which includes whether they want to open their account to public views. By engaging them early in their privacy journey, we can enable them to make more deliberate decisions about their online privacy.
For the full story and details on the privacy settings click the link below:
https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-gb/strengthening-privacy-and-safety-for-youth-on-tiktok
This is the information about Fleets posted on Twitter
Click here to read on the Twitter website.
Fleets give you the power to use and interact with Twitter in a whole new way, right in the moment. Fleets allow you to share fleeting or transitory thoughts, and after 24 hours, they’ll disappear from view. Share personal in-the-moment thoughts with your followers free of public reactions. Fleet authors can see who views their Fleets, including accounts with protected Tweets, by clicking into their Fleets and tapping on the Seen By text at the bottom.
- They don’t get Retweets, likes, and are not open to public replies.
- A Fleet can include text, videos, GIFs, or photos. People can reply to your Fleet by tapping on Send a Message or the emoji icon at the bottom of your Fleet.
- If you have open DMs, anyone can react to your Fleets. If you have closed DMs, only people you follow can react to your Fleets.
- People with access to Fleets can see your Fleets in two ways:
- If they follow you, your Fleets will appear in the new bar across the top of their Home timeline.
- Anyone who can see your Tweets can view your Fleets from your profile by tapping on your profile photo.
- If you protect your Tweets, your Fleets will also be protected.
- To delete a Fleet select Delete Fleet and it will remove the post.
Note: When you view someone’s Fleet, the Fleet author will be able to see that you viewed it using the Seen By feature, even if your account has protected Tweets.
Additionally, please note that we maintain a copy of all sent Fleets and live broadcasts in Fleets for a limited time after they expire or are deleted to be able to enforce against Fleets that are found to violate our rules. If a Fleet or a live broadcast was found in violation, we may extend the time we maintain a copy of it to allow people an opportunity to appeal the violation if they believe it was a mistake.
These are fabulous handouts for parents, made by the amazing team at SWGFL
https://swgfl.org.uk/resources/
Home activity packs
Our home activity packs contain simple 15 minute activities you can do with your family to support their online safety at home.
Family activities
Each of these family activity sheets have a selection of short conversation starters, practical tips and fun tasks to do as a family.
Family activity sheet – viewing videos online
This activity sheet focuses on watching videos online. With a choice of 3 conversation starters, 3 online safety actions and 2 fun family tasks, you can learn together about watching videos safely online.
Family activity sheet – cyber security
This activity sheet focuses on cyber security, and we have worked with the National Cyber Security Centre to help you be more Cyber Aware.
Family Activity sheet – social media
This activity sheet focuses on social media. With a choice of 2 conversation starters, depending on if your child is on social media, 3 online safety actions and a fun family tasks, you can learn together about safer social media use.
Family Activity sheet – sharing images
This activity sheet focuses on sharing images online. With a choice of 3 conversation starters, 3 online safety actions and a fun family tasks, you can learn together about safer image sharing.
Family Activity sheet – live streaming
This activity sheet focuses on live streaming. With a choice of 3 conversation starters, 3 online safety actions and a fun family tasks, you can learn together about how to be safer when live streaming.
Family Activity sheet – online gaming
This activity sheet focuses on online gaming. With a choice of 3 conversation starters, 3 online safety actions and a fun family tasks, you can learn together about safer online gaming.
Parents and Carers Resources
If you haven’t already, read our Parents and Carers Helpsheets – there is one for primary and one for secondary. These contain key online safety advice and links to our resources, as well as support services.
We have also created short videos to help you with online safety at home on the following topics:
- Watching videos
- Online gaming
- Social media
- Sharing images
- Livestreaming
- Cyber security
Click here for short videos for parents and carers
Home activity packs
These home activity packs a have been created to cover different areas of online safety for each age range, using our Thinkuknow resources.
For Early Years and Primary:
Click here for home activity packs for children aged 4-5
Click here for home activity packs for children aged 5-7
Click here for home activity packs for children aged 8-10
For Secondary:
PEGI Ratings For the most Popular Games this Christmas:
FIFA 21 – PEGI 3
Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War – PEGI 18
Spiderman; Miss Morales – PEGI 12
Fortnite: Battle Royale – PEGI 12
Watch Dogs Legion – PEGI 18
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit- PEGI 3
Call of Duty: Warzone – PEGI 18
Minecraft – PEGI 7
If you are purchasing a game that is not on this list, you can check the PEGI rating here
Fortnite was released for PS4, Xbox One, Windows and Mac OS back in the summer of 2017 and has an PEGI age rating of 12 for violence (no blood). It’s now on the Nintendo switch and can be used cross platforms (i.e xbox and Switch players can link up through their Epic Games account but not ps4 players)
The standard edition of the game costs around £35 but it’s the free to play Battle Royale (100 players, last man standing) mode that is so overwhelmingly popular.
There are several modes to it – solo is most popular, but there are 50/50 games and 4 player team games (connect together via headphones – can be anyone in your team or you can lock down to just your friends).
You can pay extra money for battle passes that allow you to earn extra rewards or you can buy extra loot and weapons, costumes, and even dance moves but these are not required to have any greater chance at winning. Lots of discussion around the validity of skins as they denote the level of player – from “noob” to the Reaper (costs £8 in the online store).
New battlepasses are out regularly. Map has changed considerably and there are new weapons/skins etc. with each Battle Pass.
A version of the game is now available on iOS for a limited number of players.
The game can be played as part of a team of 2-4 players also. A new mode of five teams of 20 is now available too – also teams of 50/50.
The multiplayer ‘Battle Royale’ version involves up to 100 people playing against each other and is the version that most child are wanting to play (as opposed to the Save the Day solo version which is also available)
Fortnite is rated 12, so first and foremost, if your child is under 12 they shouldn’t be playing it anyway. It has a community of over 40 million players online and sadly some gamers are not nice people and if they have headsets they may be abusive or insensitive.
There are settings on both PS4 and Xbox One to mute other players if they are abusive and you can report them if they’re particularly despicable.
It is a shooter game (of a similar vein as Hunger Games) where players are dropped unarmed onto an island. There, they must make their way to ‘houses’, where they find weapons they then use to shoot and kill, they build structures and try to avoid the destructive storm that threatens all outside its safe zone. The last player standing after all else are killed is deemed the winner.
Games on Fortnite can last up to 20 minutes, however, so parents/ teachers demanding a child to stop playing in the middle of the game is unlikely to go down very well.
Unlike many online games where you are ‘respawned’ should you die and are able to continue to play, keeping alive is the difference between winning and losing and means a lot more in Fortnite than in many other shooter games.
If you are playing in squads (teams of 4+) you can get regenerated (regen’d) by your team mates if you take on some damage. This causes conflict as some of the team rage if they are not helped out – this can spill over into the real world in the playground.
Do we need to worry about violence?
Like most video games, Fortnite has an element of violence to it as the game revolves around collecting guns and surviving for as long as possible. Due to the age 12 rating though, actual violence is pretty minimal. There’s no gore or blood, and when a player is shot, it’s numbers that jump out their body to indicate how much damage has been done to their health.
There is also a slightly absurd nature to it all, with people in animal costumes attacking astronauts with pic axes, that kind of tones down any real feeling of violence.
Who do you play with?
You can play with your friends but you will also have unknowns joining the game as well. When playing in teams this requires strategy and communication and can sometimes result in players abusing others when they are not so happy with their efforts but it can also result in great cooperation, teamwork and communication. They can be developing skills in planning, thinking ahead, strategising and they will be creating and building.
Can they chat to other users?
Yes, there are onscreen or audio chats available to other players. These can be turned off via the settings then head to audio. Many don’t bother with the onscreen chat as it is too hard to play and type! There is no voice chat in the iOS version yet but it does have text chat.
What should kids be aware of before playing Fortnite?
It has been described as highly addictive so some time limits may need to be enforced.
Ideally it should be kept out of bedrooms to avoid late night temptations.
This will be needed to be even more stringently enforced when the mobile version arrives.
Be aware of how to block or report people if they are required to do so.
Don’t pass on any personal information to online players.
Some parents and teachers just don’t understand it
That’s ok, it’s angled towards younger people, not adults.
Looking for some great video games for your children to play over the holiday season? Well look no further, Internet Matters resident tech expert Andy Robertson, offers some options for you to consider for children of all ages.
Read about his recommended games here.
And in this post he gives the low down on Rocket League, a fast-paced multiplayer video game that has gained popularity amongst young people but also professional players. Learn more about why and how it works to help children get the best out of the game.
Read about Rocket League here.
