National Online Safety Guides

Instagram  remains one of the world’s most popular social media platforms, especially among teens – used by around 70% of 13 to 17-year-olds.

It may be one of the most familiar social media names around but features like AI-powered chatbots and Threads integration have added fresh challenges for families and schools to navigate From worrying livestreams to issues like social exclusion and fear of missing out, Instagram isn’t just about photos. As the platform evolves, so too must the conversations we have with young people about how they use it 

Our latest #WakeUpWednesday guide outlines what these new features involve, the possible risks they bring and how to make the most of Instagram’s parental controls to keep children safe online 

Bluesky social app  is a microblogging social media platform that gained popularity after separating from Twitter in 2021. It’s more than doubled its user numbers in the past six months alone, from 14.5 million in October 2024 to 32 million at present. Since accounts must be public, this opens the door to potential trolling, cyberbullying  and the spread of misinformation

We’ve created this free guide – also available in podcast format – offering parents and educators advice and guidance on the tools available to keep children safe while using the popular social media platform Bluesky.

You may already know that livestreaming plays a major role in children’s entertainment, with a wide range of personalities influencing young viewers in both positive and negative ways. While watching streamers can be fun, it also comes with significant risks, including misinformation,  financial harms, and  inappropriate content.

Popular streaming platform Twitch has over 2.5 million viewers at any given time, which is why it’s more important than ever to stay informed. This week’s guide , also available as a podcast , explores the potential dangers of livestreaming and offers essential insights to help you protect the children in your care.

It’s World Book Day this week, a perfect time to celebrate the joy of reading and explore how technology can support literacy. The way we engage with text has changed dramatically over the years. Whether reading captions on social media, instructions in a video game or an e-book on a digital device, technology plays a major role in modern literacy.

To help struggling readers, many digital platforms offer tools that enhance readability by making text more accessible and engaging. We’ve created this week’s free guide – also available in podcast format – offering parents and educators ten top tips on how they can help young readers engage in text and foster a love for reading.

If there are two things that are popular nowadays, it’s Marvel and video games. Marvel Rivals is a new release combining these two into one, letting players take on the role of various superheroes ‍ and villains  ‍in a competitive multiplayer shooter  At the time of writing, the title has proven immensely successful: with the developer, NetEase, reports that as many as 40 million people are playing the game – many of whom will be children, owing to the game’s PEGI 12 age rating. 

While most of Marvel’s content has been family –friendly (and this game has been deemed suitable for children as young as 12), this title does still present numerous potential risks to children and young people  We’ve put together this week’s free guide – also available in podcast format  offering parents and educators expert advice on the potential pitfalls of Marvel Rivals and how to protect its younger players. 

‘Fake news’ is a widespread issue in the digital world, and it's overwhelmingly likely that both children and adults will be exposed to it online  In fact, a study from the Alan Turing Institute has found that 94% of people in the UK have encountered misinformation on social media  and that’s only the ones who were aware of it! 

However, while some fake news is shared mistakenly by well-meaning individuals, it’s also shared by scammers and other cyber-criminals to lend legitimacy to their con. While this presents a clear risk to children and young people online, the question remains as to how we can protect them against such tactics  This week’s free guide offers expert advice on the specific ways scammers use misinformation and how to safeguard younger users against these techniques. 

Anger at a toy being stolen  Sadness when losing a game  Frustration when struggling in class  All children will experience challenging feelings sooner or later. Emotions are a natural part of life, and while youngsters should be allowed to express themselves, it’s important they also learn how to process these more difficult emotions in a mindful way. 

Of course, many children may well be encountering these intense feelings for the first time, and it can be intimidating to skirt the line of helping them properly handle their emotions while also validating their experiences  That’s why we’ve put together this free guide, offering expert advice on how supporting youngsters to develop emotional literacy. 

A study entitled The Digital Health Generation has highlighted that more than 70% of young people in the UK, some aged just 8, are using apps and other digital online technologies to track and manage their health  For those of us who might struggle with sticking to a routine or even knowing where to start, physical wellbeing and fitness apps promise to do the heavy lifting for you  providing meal plans, exercise routines and more.

However, some of these apps aren't always as safe as they might first appear, and they tend to present a few risks to their users – especially for their underage demographic. That’s why we’ve put together this free guide on safety concerns around physical wellbeing apps, to provide you with expert advice on how to mitigate these risks for young people.

YouTube Kids is a child-friendly version of YouTube, offering a colourful and easy-to-navigate environment which is suitable for young children. The app is easily accessible and can be downloaded for phones and tablets without needing the YouTube app to be installed on the device already. Although YouTube Kids is obviously intended to be (and mainly succeeds in being) an extremely child-friendly platform, it has still raised concerns over its advertising policy as well as inappropriate content seeping through the curation process.

In the guide, you'll find tips such as disabling the search option, restricting viewing time and monitoring the watch history.

TikTok is a free social media platform that lets users create, share and watch short videos ranging anywhere from 15 seconds to 10 minutes in duration. The app gained notoriety for its viral dances, trends and celebrity cameos and can be a creative, fun platform for teens to enjoy. Now available in 75 languages, it has more than a billion active users worldwide (as of spring 2022) and is most popular with the under-16 age bracket. In fact, a 2022 Ofcom report found TikTok to be the most-used social media platform for posting content, particularly among young people aged 12 to 17.

In the guide, you'll find tips on avoiding potential risks such as age-inappropriate content, dangerous challenges and contact with strangers.

Roblox is one of the most popular video games on the market. By 2020, the game’s makers were claiming that more than half of children in the USA were playing it. As a ‘sandbox’ title, Roblox offers a huge amount of creative freedom: it lets players create their own gaming experiences with the Roblox Studio to build custom levels and games, which can then be shared with other players online. Roblox fosters creative thinking and enjoys a robust online community of fans.

In the guide, you'll find tips on avoiding potential hazards such as online daters, in-app purchasing and contact with strangers.

Defined as “ongoing hurtful behaviour towards someone online”, cyber-bullying makes its victims feel upset, uncomfortable and unsafe. In the digital world, it has numerous forms – such as hurtful comments on a person’s posts or profile; deliberately leaving them out of group chats; sharing embarrassing images or videos of someone; or spreading gossip about them. Cyber-bullying can severely impact a young person’s mental health … so, in support of Anti-Bullying Week, we’ve provided a list of tips to help trusted adults know what to look for and how to respond to it. 

In the guide, you'll find tips such as playing online games with your child, talking about your child’s online life and being prepared to listen without showing any judgement or criticism. 

At times, growing up can be a stressful experience. It’s not unheard of for young people to fret about things that could potentially go wrong in their lives – and what implications this would have for their life. In some situations, this can go beyond feeling uneasy about the future and become full-blown anxiety, which affects their mental, emotional and even physical wellbeing. 

While worry and anxiety can originate from many different places, it's immensely important for parents and educators to understand the effect this can have on youngsters – and how best to support them if they’re going through a difficult time. This guide provides insight into the ramifications of worry and anxiety, and how you can help children manage – and hopefully overcome – these challenges.