Vodafone Online Safety Newsletter
On Safer Internet Day 2024, Vodafone launched a new campaign in partnership with NSPCC. Their mission is to focus on empowering responsible digital citizens. Explore their online safety newsletter, and join them in fostering a safer online environment for all. The newsletter can be found here.
Online Well-Being
While social media is a great way to wind down by watching funny cat videos, or showing followers what you ate for breakfast, for many people, it's also serves as a lifeline.
Being online can be positive for children and young people, including those with additional needs. So much of our communication now happens online, either by messages, in a game or through a video call. Sometimes online platforms like the apps, social media sites and games your child accesses can help them connect and make friends with new people that they might not know offline.
As a parent or carer, you play an important role in helping your child to have positive experiences online. If your child has additional needs, then this role can be even more important, and it can feel like a lot of responsibility when you hear about some of the risks young people face online.
We have various booklets available from changepeople.org and beyondbullying.com that deal with and cover a range of subjects, such as online abuse, Downloading photos and videos, and Cyber bullying. All of these can be found in a PDF format below, and will be printed and available soon. This page will be updated as soon as the printed booklets are available.
Staying Safe Online Easy Read Guide
Staying Safe When Downloading From The Internet
Keeping Your Personal Information Safe
How To Deal With Cyber Bullying
Below are a list of apps and websites which can be beneficial in keeping children and young people safe online.
CKLearn
CKLearn provides free online learning to people with learning difficulties.The learning covers a range of topics that people with learning difficulties have asked for. This includes some of the more sensitive issues that can affect adults including bullying, hate crime, bereavement loss, sexual health and relationships. For more information, please visit the CKLearn website here.
Health Swap
Health Swap is a new healthy living app for people with Down’s Syndrome from DSActive that makes living a healthier lifestyle easier. The App allows people with Down's syndrome and their carers to improve their quality of living through healthier eating and activity tracking, whilst also improving their digital skills and capabilities.
You can download the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play store. Alternatively, you can click the links below to go straight there.
Be Safe Have Fun CKUK
This is a sexual health education app for young people with Autism and Learning difficulties that are aged 14 years or older. Please bare in mind that the information in this app may be too mature for anyone under the age of 14. Young people can use this app to find the answers to the kind of questions you need to ask before you get involved in any kind of sexual activity. It will teach you about how to stay safe if you are getting involved in sexual activities. The app is about teaching them to learn about keeping safe.
It asks them to stop and think about what they are about to do and teach them what could happen to them if they take risks. The app then shows them options on how to reduce or stop the harm associated with those risks.
The app can be downloaded for free on the Google Play Store. The app will be made available on Apple products via the App Store at a later date – you can keep informed by visiting the CKUK website which can be found here
Learn my way
Learn My Way is a website of free online courses for beginners, which helps to develop digital skills to make the most of the online world. it is owned by the Good Things Foundation, and is just one of the many things they do to promote digital skills for everyone in the UK. You can find out more about the Good Things Foundation’s digital inclusion projects by clicking here