Designed for 8 to 10 year olds, Band Runner is an interactive game that helps children to develop their knowledge of online child sexual abuse (CSA) threats.

Band Runner features characters and safety messages from our ‘Play Like Share’ films. It is designed to be a fun, interactive game that puts children’s knowledge to the test by asking them to help the characters make safer choices in various online scenarios.

What has changed?
The updated Band Runner game now features new scenarios which better reflect 8 to 10s experiences online, including:

• Livestreaming
• Online gaming
• In-game chat

The update also includes a new voice-over function where children can click to have the questions and answers read aloud.

What next?
Click the button below to view the updated game in action!

Are you a parent or family member with concerns about someone's gaming? Is it having a negative impact on their studies, family time, going out, other hobbies?

Take a look at this great website - you don't need to live in the area to ask for support from them

The Children's Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, has published a guide to help parents and carers navigate the challenge of managing children's everyday online habits. Written with direct input from children and young people, including teenagers consulted in schools and the Commissioner's Youth Ambassadors. The guide is designed to make difficult conversations easier and more regular.

The guide covers setting boundaries around phone use, talking about harmful content, and building ongoing communication that goes beyond a one-off conversation. The voice of young people runs through it, including this from one teenager: "Don't be afraid to be firm… If you are worried your child is seeing harmful content and you don't know what they're watching and it's affecting their behaviour, just take it that you know best, they don't."

We were incredibly privileged to have Laura Bates come into school to give a talk on how AI algorithms work and how they may be inadvertently boosting and promoting harmful content to end users. This was an amazing talk that can now be viewed here

What to do when....

- your child is asking for their first phone

- you're worried about who your child is talking to whilst online