Stories and warnings often circulate online, and offline, about online scares or suicide challenges which are alleged to have encouraged children to engage in harmful activities. Most have been found to be hoaxes, fake news or wildly exaggerated stories, however it is important that the children and young people you work with know how to seek help should they require it.
One of our core values is not to frighten or scare-monger. Therefore, we do not advise sending warnings out to parents and carers or publicising issues on your newsletters or social media pages. Whilst sharing warnings is often done with good intentions, it can pose risks.
Seeing or hearing about this content can be distressing for both children and their families. If a child has not heard about the scare, it can make them curious, and they may look for the content online which they could find upsetting. By publicising there is also a risk that an individual will create a website with harmful content based around the scare.
Stories and warnings often circulate online about online scares or suicide challenges which are alleged to have encouraged children to engage in harmful activities. Most have been found to be hoaxes, fake news or wildly exaggerated stories.
Seeing or hearing about this content can be distressing for both children and parents.
What to do if you’ve heard about a viral scare/suicide challenge?
As a parent, there is a lot you can do to support your child. It’s important to help your child feel safe by staying calm.
What to do if your child has seen, or been involved in, a viral scare or suicide challenge?
There are lots of organisations out there can provide this:
What help can I get for my child?
If your child needs someone to talk to because of anything which has upset them, it could be that they are being bullied or that they have seen something online which they wish they hadn’t, there are a number of places they can go.
Children can ring Childline on 0800 1111 and speak to trained counsellors about any problems they may face. Childline is run by the NSPCC and is there to help your child.
The Childline website also offers excellent help and advice on a whole range of issues.
Worried about viruses, hacking and online security?
Being the victim of online crime can be as distressing as real-world robbery. Learn about the real risks and understand the urgency of protecting your family at GetSafeOnline.
Get Safe Online is one of the UK’s leading sources of unbiased, factual and easy-to-understand information on online safety.
Thinkuknow is an education programme from the National Crime Agency’s CEOP Command.
Since 2006, Thinkuknow has been keeping children and young people safe by providing education about sexual abuse and sexual exploitation.
Thinkuknow is unique. It is underpinned by the latest intelligence about child sex offending from CEOP Command.
Thinkuknow aims to ensure that everyone has access to this practical information – children, young people, their parents and carers and the professionals who work with them.
Alongside the Thinkuknow website the programme provides educational resources, including films, cartoons and lesson plans, to help professionals raise young people’s awareness.
Please Note: We have included this post because we felt it was of value and interest to our site visitors. Its inclusion here does not imply any endorsement of our site or work by Thinkuknow. Please use this post as a useful information point and link to further resources.
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