For Parents and Carers - YouTube Safety Help Letter

Please see below the letter that was sent out to parents and carers regarding keeping their children safe on YouTube. You can also download the PDF version - CLICK HERE.

Dear Parents/Carers,

There have been various pupils and parents in school that are concerned about some content on YouTube with innocent sounding names (particularly videos with video content from the game Choo Choo Charles, often referred to as Choo Choo Charlie) which are inappropriate due to the violence/horror of the subject matter.

As a result, I have been asked to write a letter for parents and carers with some information on how to keep their children safe whilst using YouTube – the general advice is:

• Pre-watch videos/subjects to check that the content is suitable.
• Watch the YouTube videos with your child/children and talk to them about the videos that they have watched.

It is possible to apply various parental controls to limit the type of content available and set restrictions on the device that your child/children are using to view YouTube, mostly using a Google tool called Family Link (https://familylink.google.com/ or by using YouTube Kids – information on this, tips for safely using YouTube and other useful information are available on the following websites (this is not an exhaustive list, but the sites below are all known to be helpful on these topics):

• https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/online-safety-blog/how-to-keep-your-child-safe-on-youtube/
• Site for general online safety guidance: https://www.internetmatters.org/
• YouTube specific: https://www.internetmatters.org/hub/guidance/youtube-tips-and-tricks-to-keep-your-children-entertained-and-safe/
• Create a Google account for your child - https://support.google.com/families/answer/7103338#zippy=%2Con-other-devices-and-computers%2Con-a-new-chromebook%2Cwith-the-family-link-app
• Manage your child’s Google account with Family Link - https://support.google.com/families/answer/7103262
• Parental controls & settings for YouTube Kids profiles & supervised accounts - https://support.google.com/youtubekids/answer/6172308?hl=en

The following site is also useful for general information on keeping yourself and others secure whilst you are online:

https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/top-tips-for-staying-secure-online

Yours sincerely,

Mr A Martin

ICT Technician