RESPONSIBLE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY AT HOME

Dear Parents/Guardians,

It has been brought to my attention that some students in Year 7 have created / are being added to group chats on various social media platforms, including Whatsapp, Snapchat and Tiktok, all of which are facing increasing public scrutiny for their failure to address serious cases of cyberbullying. The permitted minimum ages to use these sites, as set by UK law are 13 years old (Whatsapp) and 14 years old (Snapchat and Tiktok) all with parental consent and monitoring. 

Cathays High School is committed to keeping our pupils safe and promoting the responsible use of technology. As such, I feel it is the school’s personal responsibility to raise this issue with you. 

I ask that parents/guardians please support the school in reminding pupils that responsible usage of technology is important. Failure to act responsibly could majorly impact future life. Below are some considerations you may wish to talk to your child about:

• Children may post content or share content which is not checked and therefore can be offensive or cause upset to others.
• Children may use their mobile phones to share other people’s personal information without their permission, which is inappropriate and may cause upset to others.
• Children may use their mobile phones as a form of malicious communication (with the purpose of causing annoyance or anxiety) towards others.

It is important to point out to parents the risks of the use of such sites, so you can make an informed decision as to whether to allow your child to have a profile or not at the moment. Should you decide to allow your child of any age to have a profile, we strongly advise you to monitor your child’s use and talk to them about safe and appropriate online behaviour, such as not sharing their own personal information or that of others and not posting offensive messages, photos or memes.

Kind regards,

Mrs H Alexander 

Head of Year 7

HAlexander@cathays.cardiff.sch.uk