Online safety - update from national concerns
Dear Parents,
It has come to our attention through the Press of some worrying developments in the 'online' world in relation to a 'Momo Challenge'. It has been reported that some seemingly innocent videos on Fortnite, YouTube and YouTube Kids (such as ‘surprise eggs’ and Minecraft videos) have been edited by unknown sources to include violence provoking and/or other inappropriate content including this 'MOMO Challenge'.
One of the videos apparently starts innocently like the start of a Peppa Pig episode and turns quickly into an altered version with violence and offensive language.
As you can image, this is highly distressing for the children to view and encourage you to be vigilant when your child is using any device or watching any clips. We would encourage all parents to remind their children that if it upsets them, switch off the screen and tell and adult. For older children, it may be beneficial to discuss the challenge and it's dangers with them to provide them with a full understanding of why some things online are not what they seem.
We are continually teaching children of online safety within school but would like to work together with you to keep keep our children safe.
A poster is attached to online safety area of our website.
If you have any questions or are concerned regarding this or any other online safety incidents, please don't hesitate to contact us. It is important we know what is out there and accessible for our children.
A great website for you to look at is
https://nationalonlinesafety.com/resources/platform-guides/
for finding out about different learning platforms.