Social Media

Instagram Do you ever post a picture and hope to get lots of ‘likes’? or hope to have lots of followers, you’re not alone in feeling like this however it can become unhealthy to constantly worry about how many ‘likes’ we receive and may even feel like a competition at times with others; the more likes and followers you have the more popular you are- but can you really say you know and trust ALL your followers or feel completely safe? When you post a picture on Instagram they then ‘own’ this picture and can do with it what they wish- sounds quite final right? This is why you should always be aware and think twice about what you are posting. Is the picture you are posting a picture that you would happily send to your parents/grandparents? Snapchat As you probably know you can send pictures and videos to friends, which vanish after they’ve been viewed; however, this can be changed so that they vanish after 24 hours. Snapchat asks for your permission to access your address book but also suggest adding mutual friends. People you do not know can contact you and see your location, not only friends of friends but EVERYONE can see your contacts and location. Facebook Although the world of Instagram and Snapchat seemed to have taken over a little! Facebook is still used by many and anyone can get access to your personal information on Facebook also. As well as photos Facebook also has a section called ‘About’ which has personal information about you, you may have even added your location, phone number or email address in this section. If your settings are not private ANYONE can access this information and you wouldn’t want strangers to know where you live or what your mobile number is right?! YouTube Learning isn’t a negative, however, following vloggers or the desire to be a vlogger can create some issues. Watching videos on YouTube can become addictive, you may spend hours watching them until the early hours of the morning and time runs away with you- the lack of sleep you get may affect you mentally and physically, you may feel a lack of energy, feel de-motivated and have a lack of alertness; perhaps try and find something relaxing to do before bed such as reading a book, journaling, using a mindfulness app such as Headspace/Calm- using such apps are proven to help you fall asleep, help with alertness, concentration and motivation.  

Online Grooming

Online grooming is when someone uses the internet to trick, force or pressure a young person into doing something sexual – like sending a naked video or image of themselves. This is wrong. They will often build an emotional connection first, perhaps tell you things you want to hear, compliment you, send gifts even; building this connection can be a way of trapping you. Once building this emotional connection they may:

• Try to have sexual conversations online or by text message
• Ask you to send naked pictures of yourself or inappropriate images
• Ask you to send sexual videos of yourself
• Encourage you to meet up with them in person.

Once these images are sent- it’s too late and there is no going back. They may share these images with others and once they have them they may ask for you to do more, bribe you to send more images and do things you feel uncomfortable doing. Staying connected with friends and family online is a great way of keeping in touch, however, it is really important to be aware of the risks associated with befriending or talking to people you do not know. Signs to be aware of:

• May send lots of messages, through various social media networks
• Try to find out more about you- such as who lives with you, are you alone when speaking online?
• Send inappropriate/sexual images
• Tell you to keep conversations secret
• Try and blackmail you
• Ask you for inappropriate/sexual image

It’s not easy to know if someone is trying to groom you, but no matter what’s happening, there is help out there and ways of preventing grooming. The CEOP website is brilliant for help and advice on this, you can also report someone by going to www.thinkuknow.co.uk. If you are unsure about something you can speak to a trusted adult and get lots of information from the thinkuknow and Childline website. Cyberbullying: What is it and how to stop it | UNICEF