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News

Fortnite

Fortnite is becoming a widespread talking point which many parents and schools are being drawn into.  If you’ve not come across it before it’s what’s known as a ‘first-person shooter’!  It’s very addictive and unlike many of its predecessors it runs on smart phones and tablets.   Children can be drawn into playing it for long times and can play collaboratively or alone.  Collaborative playing does feature contact with other players through chat which can lead to exposure to grooming and bullying online.

Lots of organisations have great information on Fortnite including  https://www.commonsensemedia.org/app-reviews/fortnite
The NSPCC has information for families – https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/online-games-helping-children-play-safe/
as does Internet Matters – https://www.internetmatters.org/advice/online-gaming/
and Childnet – http://www.childnet.com/resources/online-gaming-an-introduction-for-parents
If you want a sensational take on Fortnite then head over to the Sun!
There are not really specific resources for schools that address online gaming directly but the new Google offering https://beinternetlegends.withgoogle.com/en-gb/  might be of some use to schools.
Categories
eSafety Online Safety

Be Internet Awesome

There are new resources from Google to help children understand how to behave online.  The resource is called ‘Be Internet Awesome‘ and is available at https://beinternetawesome.withgoogle.com/.  The resource includes fun online games around the themes of sharing (or not) online, spotting fake information and news, knowing when to and not to share secrets such as personal information and login details, how to behave in a kind way online and most importantly when to be brave and talk to someone else about an issue.