Online safety

Where to start

If something has happened to your child online, this is a safeguarding conversation before it is anything else.

• The designated safeguarding lead at your child’s school. Every school has one, by law. They are trained for exactly this conversation and they have the routes a parent does not. As soon as you have a concern about a child’s safety. Ask for them by role; you do not have to explain yourself to the office first.
• The NSPCC helpline, for adults worried about a child. A line for the adult who is not sure whether what they have noticed is serious. You do not need to be certain, and you can call anonymously. When something has been said or seen and you do not know what to do with it. They will tell you whether it needs to go further, and help you take that step. Helpline 0808 800 5000, Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm Email help@nspcc.org.uk, read 11am to 4pm, seven days a week; a message sent while the service is closed is not received. If it is closed and the concern cannot wait, call the police on 101, or contact the child’s local children’s social care, social work or social services team. If a child is in immediate danger, call 999. www.nspcc.org.uk

For online safety

• Internet Matters. Step-by-step guides to the settings on every device and app, advice by age from nought to eighteen, and guides to AI tools and gaming. When you need to actually change something on a phone tonight. The most practical online safety source in the UK. www.internetmatters.org/advice
• Childnet. Guides to having the conversation, by age, on gaming, sharing images, online bullying and where the line is, from one of the charities behind the UK Safer Internet Centre. When the settings are done and the talking is the hard part. www.childnet.com/parents-and-carers
• CEOP (the police’s online child protection command). The National Crime Agency’s child protection command. Their parents’ pages explain grooming, image sharing and gaming risks calmly, and the CEOP Safety Centre is where you report grooming or sexual abuse of your child online. When what has happened online may be a crime: someone asking for images or personal details, or pressure on your child to share pictures. Report at ceop.police.uk/safety-centre. www.ceopeducation.co.uk/parents
• Report Remove (from Childline and the IWF). A free, confidential tool for under-18s to get a nude or sexual image of themselves removed from the internet, with Childline counsellors there if they want to talk. When an image of your child has been shared. Your child makes the report; you can sit with them while they do. www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/online-mobile-safety/report-remove
• Internet Watch Foundation. The UK hotline that gets sexual images of children removed from the internet. The report is online, anonymous and free. When you have found an illegal image of a child, including one of your own child, and need it taken down. The IWF removes the image; reporting the person goes to CEOP or the police. The two usually need to run together. www.iwf.org.uk/en/uk-report

If a platform has ignored your report

• Report Harmful Content. Help getting something taken down when you have reported it to the platform and nothing has happened: bullying, threats, impersonation, content about self-harm. After the in-app report has failed. They reply within three days. reportharmfulcontent.com

If you are considering private therapy

Waiting lists are long. If you can meet the cost, a registered therapist can usually be seen in weeks rather than months. Both registers below are accredited by the Professional Standards Authority, which is the thing to check before anything else.

• BACP Therapist Directory. The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy’s public register. Search by area, by what you are bringing, and by whether the therapist works with children. www.bacp.co.uk/search/Therapists
• NCPS Therapist Directory. The National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society’s register. Every therapist listed is qualified, supervised, insured, and accountable to a code of ethics. ncps.com/find-a-counsellor
• Kensington Square Therapy. Our own practice. We work with children, young people and parents, in person in London, online, and inside schools we partner with. www.kst.ltd

What to look for in a therapist, what a first session is like, and the questions worth asking before you commit, are set out at theparentbook.com/finding-a-therapist

Everything else

The full directory, across every subject, is at theparentbook.com/services. If a number here has changed, please tell us at hello@theparentbook.com and we will correct it.