WHY IS SAFEGUARDING EVERYONE's BUSINESS?

In the last 4 years, the number of children watching harmful content online has increased! What is your business doing to protect the lives of children?

It is important, now more than ever to make sure we are knowledgeable about what children are doing on and offline.

If your business comes into direct or indirect contact with children, seeking support and guidance from a safeguarding expert will enable you to communicate why child safeguarding is important to the business, and how the business will meet their commitment to protecting children and its safeguarding responsibilities.

Every organisation that has employees directly or indirectly engaging with children has a legal and moral duty of care to do all it can to protect children from harm.

 The Cyber survey

I recently read a report devised from a survey on the digital lives of children.

The Cyber survey – was carried out by Youthworks in partnership with Internet Matters.

This is the largest and most robust survey of its kind in the UK, with nearly 15,000 children aged 11-17 taking part across 82 schools across the country. In the latest report, it draws out key themes from what young people tell us about their online lives.

 The survey was conducted prior to Covid19 and among the themes that are highlighted in the report, is the finding that the numbers of children viewing harmful content online dramatically increased over a period of four years, between 2015 and 2019, with particular concern relating to body image, both for boys wanting to ‘bulk up’ and girls wanting picture-perfect bodies, or even worse anorexic or harmed bodies.

With many organisations using social media to market their products, conducting a risk assessment on the impact that your content is having on the lives of children is crucial.

 Here is the link to the report.

Children have the right to be protected!

 All children, wherever they live and whatever their circumstances, have the right to be protected, nurtured and free from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect, maltreatment and exploitation.

Safeguarding/Child Protection is often linked to Education, however, safeguarding children refers to all the actions organisations takes to keep children they come into contact with safe. 

This includes the proactive measures put in place to make sure children do not come to harm as a result of any direct or indirect contact with the company, this could be face to face or online or safeguarding against abuse by employees.

Ensuring that the rights of children are respected at each stage of the company’s value chain, starting with the procurement and continuing on to the use of products and services by end-users, including children, will help a company identify which issues are relevant for them to address.

 With a rise in online abuse, mental health (self-esteem/body image) the influence of vloggers and teenagers not actively following online safety advice, raising awareness and providing training for staff are key elements of the safeguarding journey for any business and essential to protecting children throughout the company’s activities.

To-do list :

·      Conduct a child safeguarding risk assessment

·      Conduct a gap analysis

·      Develop a policy

·      Develop an implementation plan

·      Establish a reporting structure

·      Provide guidance on how to report when employees have a concern.

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If you have any questions on how your business can create a safeguarding culture that outlines the company’s commitment to keeping children safe from abuse and maltreatment by its employees and partners, contact [email protected].