WhatsApp has announced a new set of optional parental controls for teenagers aged 13–17. Parents, carers and teenagers have to agree to link their accounts, after which parents and carers can manage some privacy settings and certain features using a PIN.

The new controls can include:

• managing who can see a teenager’s profile photo and who can add them to groups;
• alerts when a teenager joins or leaves a group, or when a group grows significantly;
• controls around Channels and Status;
• choosing between the standard 13+ Meta AI experience and a more restricted Limited Content option.

These features are still rolling out gradually, so we should start to see them fairly soon.

There has also been some confusion around WhatsApp for younger children. WhatsApp has separately developed parent-managed accounts for children under 13, focused mainly on messaging and calling with built-in parental supervision. However, these accounts are still being rolled out gradually and there has not yet been a full rollout outside of the US.

Below are some useful links for parents and carers:

Links:
WhatsApp – New Controls to Help Parents Guide Their Teens
WhatsApp Help Centre – Parental Controls
WhatsApp – Parent-Managed Accounts

Mr S Auckland
Deputy Head and Designated Safeguarding Lead

An update for parents and carers to be aware of: Instagram has introduced a new Snapchat-style feature into the app; disappearing images, also known as Instants. Introduced this week around the world, the feature allows users to DM an image which will disappear after 24 hours of being viewed.

We have been made aware by the police about a social media trend where children from different schools are being encouraged to meet up in 'red' groups and 'blue' groups and take part in organised fights. This started in other parts of London and has now spread locally.

We have no information that this involves any BGS students, but as always, we ask that you go straight home after school.
If ever you are feeling worried or have concerns about this issue, please inform any member of staff. The police are reminding all young people that you should never carry any type of weapon or object that can be deemed as a weapon in order to help you feel safe being in your community.

Mr S Auckland
Deputy Head and Designated Safeguarding Lead

NHS England, have contacted schools to warn that two young adults with a wide following are encouraging self-harm on TikTok.