Do you think you are safely monitoring your child’s FB account? Perhaps not…

If your child is using FB and messenger, secret conversations allow your child to send and receive private messages and images you won’t be able to see, EVEN if you have the log in details to their account. You can only see the messages on the device on which they were sent.

Chats are encrypted, so others can not read what has been said or shared. Although it is perfectly normal for young people to want to keep some parts of their lives private, it may leave them vulnerable and open to various risks and issues. These messages can also be set to disappear.

Therefore, if your child was sent something that was potentially threatening or inappropriate, it could then disappear in seconds leaving no evidence that the child had seen it but leaving a harmful impact on the child.
So what can you do?

Talk to your child or young person about the risks involved and what you would like them to do should they see something harmful.

Show them how to block a person or report a conversation to FB.

Remain open and honest.

Visit our Online Safety section for more guidance and advice

#onlinesafetyatbps