Highlights
- New scheme provides guidance on discussing body-shaming, rage bait and misogyny on social media.
- Campaign developed with NSPCC, Parent Zone and Internet Matters following parental support requests.
- Doncaster headteacher calls for social media ban for under-16s alongside government initiative.
Yorkshire and the Midlands will pilot the "You Won't Know until You Ask" initiative run by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, providing parents with guidance on addressing topics including body-shaming, rage bait and misogyny on social media.
Technology secretary Liz Kendall told BBC "I know many parents are worried about what their children see and do online - often out of sight, and at times beyond their control.
We are determined to give children the childhood they deserve and prepare them for the future. That is why we are supporting parents with this campaign and launching a consultation on how young people can live and thrive in the age of social media."
Expert-backed guidance
The guidance, developed with expert organisations including NSPCC, Parent Zone and Internet Matters, will encourage parents to utilise safety settings for social media and provide tips on initiating difficult conversations.
The campaign responds to parental calls for support navigating children's social media use and arrives as demands for banning social media for under-16s gather momentum.
David Scales, principal of Astrea Academy in Doncaster, which became smartphone-free in December, told BBC that he frequently hears from worried parents.
"Parents are quite worried about the length of time that their children are spending on their smartphones and the damage that is doing to families, because it's reducing family time and the ability to talk to each other properly," he stated.
Calls for stricter measures
Scales added "As well as that, there's worries about what's going on in different social media apps, like Snapchat, and the types of content that they might be viewing or seeing.
In the worst cases these are quite horrific examples of grooming and seeing explicit content, which obviously once seen is very hard to undo."
While welcoming the new support, Scales believes the government should implement stronger restrictions. "We need to think children should not be having smartphones at the age that they're getting them.
There needs to be a social media ban for the under-16s and there should be a full ban for phones in schools," he said.
"I think by taking those steps, that is a really strong marker in society that while all technology has its benefits, there are drawbacks and there do need to be limitations."
