Internet, Photographs and Mobile Phones

Different ways of communicating with friends are important to a child/young people and are now a way of life from an early age. When a child is placed with you, find out their background and whether the internet, photographs and mobile phones contributed towards any abuse so that you can plan their use safely for all children but particularly those where it has been an issue. You should ask the child’s social worker for advice and information.

Your knowledge of different media will vary but it is important that foster carers develop their understanding of different electronic devices, the internet, social media and gaming, and that you learn how to safeguard children when using the internet, mobile devices, and gaming. Foster carers should also be aware of and alert to the signs of grooming behaviour. Grooming is when someone builds an emotional connection with a child to gain their trust for the purposes of sexual abuse or exploitation.

If you are concerned that a child/young person is being bullied online, you should talk to them about it, record what is happening in the daily record (including taking screenshots especially for apps where posts disappear, like Snapchat) and speak to the child’s social worker as soon as possible.

The placement plan should identify any risks or issues associated with the use of online devices including computers, laptops, smartphones, tablets and gaming consoles particularly in relation to bullying, sexual exploitation, radicalisation or other risk-taking behaviours. Where appropriate assess the risk and how to safely manage the child or young person's use. The use of social media/electronic communication as a way of maintaining contact with family and friends should be outlined in the child’s Care Plan (see also Contact / Family Time Between the Child, their Family and Other Significant People in the child’s life Procedure)

We want children and young people to learn to be resilient and make safe choices online just as they do in all other areas of their lives. You should take an active part in a child’s digital life – talk to them about the positives and the risks and have regular open conversations about their online world. Setting limits is important but it can be damaging to be too restrictive because this does not allow young people to learn digital resilience skills (learning how to take advantage of all the benefits whilst keeping themselves safe).

The UKCIS digital resilience framework below shows the components for digital resilience.

Foster carers/carers should be delegated the task of assessing what devices, social media, communications platforms and games young people can use considering their age, ability and mental health, and any risks identified in the placement plan. Any issues relating to online activities including restrictions should be specified at the time of placement and reviewed regularly.

Useful guidelines

• Building Digital Resilience takes time and changes depending on the age of the child. Internet Matters provides advice per age;
• You should agree clear ground rules on the use of the internet with the child/young person, the UKCIS Digital Passport is a useful tool for this. These may include time limits, platforms allowed, behaviour and where the young person can use devices;
• Appropriate internet security and parental controls should be used on the router and on all devices to avoid access to inappropriate material and to support their use of different platforms – for example restricting access to social media during school hours. Internet Matters have easy to parental control guides for a wide range of devices and platforms including broadband, social media, devices and games;
• Be aware that bullying can take place online – look at the separate guidance for this.

Setting up Accounts

Teaching the child to be cautious is important and can help when they start to use social media like TikTok or Snapchat. The East Sussex Get Digital team  recommend these stages to a child/young person having their own device or account:

1. You explore the device/platform on your account;
2. You talk about how to behave online including not sharing personal information which might expose their identity or location such as their address or school;
3. You create an account alongside the young person making sure the appropriate controls are in place i.e. location off or making it a private account;
4. You make sure they know how to block and report;
5. You should go through the site's terms and conditions, explaining them to the child - it's important you both understand them;
6. You agree boundaries together including time limits and how often you will check in on their activity;
7. Teach the child how to decide who to trust, why they might want to be their friend. Try categorising people into Friends, Acquaintances and strangers and make sure they understand the difference.

Take a balanced approach to risk

It is very important to take a balanced approach to risk. Risk is important in order for children to develop and learn both online and in the real world. It is important to note that care experienced young people can be more vulnerable to these risks.

Risks

You should be aware and understand the risks that using the internet may pose for children including:

• Bullying/cyberbullying;
• Emotional abuse (this includes emotional blackmail, for example pressuring children and young people to comply with sexual requests via technology);
• Sexting (pressure or coercion to create sexual images);
• Sexual abuse;
• Exploitation;
• Extremism/radicalisation;
• Being scammed.

You have access to the Digital Hive to support you in keeping children safe and provide you with appropriate learning around online safety and digital resilience. The ESCC Get Digital Team are also able to provide direct advice and guidance around specific concerns and you can access this support via your Supervising Social Worker or on the Digital Hive.

You should be aware of and alert to indicators of grooming behaviour and possible exploitation.

As previously discussed the best way to keep young people safe online is to talk to them regularly about their online world. Ask them to show you how an app/game works and if you need additional support contact the Get Digital team. 

Sharing of explicit images

It should be noted that creating or sharing explicit images of a child is illegal, even if the person doing it is a child. A young person is breaking the law if they:

• Take an explicit photo or video of themselves or a friend;
• Share an explicit image or video of a child, even if it's shared between children of the same age;
• Possess, download or store an explicit image or video of a child, even if the child gave their permission for it to be created.

However, if a young person is found creating or sharing images, the police can choose to record that a crime has been committed but recommend that taking formal action is not in the public interest.

The ESCC Get Digital team have a focus on improving the digital resilience of children in East Sussex, ensuring children and young people can take advantage of all the benefits of the online world whilst keeping themselves safe. They provide training, consultations and manage the Digital Hive website a secure one stop shop website for all training, resources, signposting and support around the online world. All East Sussex Foster Carers can access this training, support and the Digital Hive website. Create your account today.

If it is OK to take pictures or videos always ask the child's permission first and make sure they are clear on who will see them and why.

You should try and take photographs regularly of the child/young person to help record their life; it may also help when putting together their Life Story book. See Keeping Memories.

You should be clear on who can give consent for the child to have their picture taken or be filmed for school etc. This should be covered within the Delegated Authority form when a child is initially placed with you.

Smartphones, tablets and other internet enabled devices have messaging apps, allowing text messaging, sharing of photos, music, video and clips.

Most devices also have cameras meaning a child/young person can also send pictures of themselves, friends and where they live, which can have security implications for some Looked After Children.

It may be useful to encourage young people to share details of how they communicate with others and an agreement* reached between the young person, social worker and foster carer about how safely to do this.

*the Digital Passport can be useful for this

Many games, apps, websites and social media sites impose a minimum age limit of 13 on their membership. This is due to laws around advertising and consent to share data, not internet safety. It may not be appropriate for children under 13 years old to use social media which are also used by adults. However, many young people will be curious about these sites before the age of 13 and often do have accounts. it is important to make sure they know the risks and how to keep themselves safe, including being able to report and block (see guidance on having accounts above).

Considerations around phones

• Age appropriate use of the phones – Can the child take their phone to school? Do they need to hand in their phone at the end of the evening before they go to bed?
• Safety – does the phone have internet access and if so has the carer, social worker and child all signed an agreement including how often the carer will check the phone for appropriate and safe usage? If the agreement has been made that the phone will not be checked document why;
• Where there are concerns about the use of the phone, you should report them to the child’s social worker and discuss appropriate restrictions – and in extreme cases, the phone be removed for a period of time We should not overreact and confiscation may not be the right approach;
• Where it is considered and evidence is available to suggest that the child’s mobile phone is placing the child at risk, the phone can be removed as an immediate measure. If this situation occurs, reporting to the supervising social worker or support worker and discussions about who should inform the child’s social worker should be done at the earliest opportunity and action to remedy this situation taken. This should be recorded within the agreement;
• Contact with birth families can often be the source of distress and upset. If the use of a mobile phone affects contact negatively with family this should be reported and consideration given to what measures can be taken by the child’s social worker to address this;
• How is the credit for the phone managed? It is the responsibly of the young person to maintain credit for their personal phone with your support. Consideration should be given to pocket money, activities and any part time working undertaken by the young person. Appropriate support to encourage ordinary ‘teenage behaviour’ in relation to current mobile phone communication should be considered carefully. It is imperative that looked after children are not discriminated against simply because they are in the care system, and they should still be given the same opportunities as their peer groups whilst being mindful of the safeguarding issues.
• Sleep is important – keep the device out of the bedroom at night.

Mobile phone network providers operate a barring and filtering mechanism to prevent those under 18 years accessing 18 rated content. The service can be provided for both contract and pay as you go phones. You are advised to explore this with the network provider that a child/young person uses or see what other services they offer.