Schoolbeat
A message from our Schoolbeat Officer:
The past year has brought so many significant changes to the way we live our lives. Online learning, working from home and the accompanying challenges of online meetings have impacted on many of us.
Like their parents and carers, many children have increased their time on the internet, which in itself has posed increased challenges for digital parenting.
Throughout this challenging time, Schoolbeat Officers and Police Community Support Officers have worked closely with Head teachers to provide advice and guidance to pupils on how to stay safe online.
What has become clear to Schoolbeat Officers is that more and more children are highlighting their use of social media, in particular TikTok.
Like many other Social Media platforms, TikTok has an age restriction of 13 years old. Whilst TikTok can be very appealing to younger audiences, many parents and carers are reminding their children that they need to be 13 before having the app.
Some parents and children have reported inappropriate content on the app, others have raised concerns about the risks linked to the messaging function and children keeping profiles open in order to get more comments and shares.
The online world can be an exciting place for children, however, it is not without its risks. It is important that children follow cyber safety advice and utilise age appropriate apps and games, this way we can reduce those risks and make their online experience as safe and fun as it should be.
It’s great to take an active interest in your child’s life online and we’d encourage you to talk openly with them about the things they do. Remember, the internet is an essential part of young people’s lives and provides them with tremendous opportunities.
Useful information for parents and carers and online safety advice/resources can be found on the below sites.
The NSPCC’s online Net Aware service provides expert reviews and safety advice on all of the most popular social networks, apps and games young people are using; www.net-aware.org.uk
CEOP’s ThinkUKnow website contains resources and advice tailored by age, as well as specific tools for parents and professionals; www.thinkuknow.co.uk
Also, below is the link to a Panorama episode which looked into how safe TikTok really is;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000p3p9/panorama-is-tiktok-safe
P.C. Greg Steer
Schoolbeat Officer for the Forest of Dean
Gloucestershire Constabulary
March 2026 -
The children attended the ‘in the net’ performance this afternoon at Coalway School.
It was very informative,
fun and helped the children to learn more about internet safety.
Please talk to your child about the performance and what they learnt.
Here are some of the main learning points……..
Turn off the device if there is something which is upsetting, scary or not right.
Do not give anyone details about where you live or what school you go to - including posting pictures of themselves in their school uniform with their school logo/badges showing.
Ask permission before going on the internet.
Only be friends with people you know are real people and similar age. Some people may not really be who they say they are.
Be kind and don’t say anything that you wouldn’t
say to someone face to face. Do not join in if other people are being mean.
All the comments and information posted online, will stay on line, and contributes to their online digital footprint and could impact on them in the future e.g when applying for jobs. The information is there forever.
Strangers will know a lot about you if you post personal details.
It was nice to share this experience with Coalway, St Briavels, Clearwell and Redbook schools. We enjoyed making new links with others in our local community.
The children were well behaved and listened with intrigue.
Ditto
Ditto is an online safety magazine written for parents and school staff. It is released every half term and will keep you up to date with the latest advice in cyber safety.
You can find out more about Ditto magazine at: www.esafety-adviser.com
We will be taking part in Internet Safety Day on Tuesday 8th February