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Orchard Park High School

Online safety

It is an ever-growing challenge to support and keep young people safe online. Students today face a plethora of new experiences every day and can access different material easily and frequently. It is therefore important to ensure you have positive and honest conversations with your child about how they can manage themselves online, how to protect themselves and how to ask for help. 

We advise that students do not become part of large group chats. It would not be possible to talk to 20 other people at once in real life and these large group chats can often lead to misunderstandings, arguments and upset. Students also should be aware of legal age requirements for social media sites and their privacy settings. 

There are many reasons why parents of children under the age of 18 should be monitoring their children and teenagers' internet use. Here are some of the reasons:

  1. This will alert you to cyberbullying and other dangerous activity they may be involved in.
  2. Safeguard their reputation.
  3. Keep them safe from online predators using gaming to befriend a child.
  4. Prevent identity theft.
  5. Avoid sexting.
  6. Identify stranger danger – looking for signs.
  7. Protect your computer from viruses and malware.
  8. Limit screen time.
  9. Protect your children’s personal information.
  10. To be part of their lives and show interest in what they are doing.

E-safety and cyberbullying advice websites

  • Think you know? – Is a great website for students needing guidance and support on E safety. For more information please visit
  • Childnet – Social media and Internet safety advice  
  • Cyber Bullying – Short films on cyber bullying
  • Safer Internet Centre – Here you can find online safety tips, advice and resources to help children and young people stay safe on the internet.

Here are some useful links to help you understand the dangers of the internet and how to put parental controls on their games to keep them safe: