Key Stage 3 computing · Digital literacy and online safety

KS3 online safety: content, contact, conduct and reporting

Teenagers are online most days, in games, group chats and social spaces, so Key Stage 3 computing teaches them to recognise when something is wrong and what to do about it. Many schools organise this under three headings: inappropriate content (what they see), contact (who gets in touch) and conduct (how people behave). Pupils also learn the different ways to report a concern, and why telling someone early matters.

Spotting and reporting online concerns, explained

The programme of study asks pupils to recognise inappropriate content, contact and conduct, and to know how to report concerns. The three headings are a way of sorting a problem so that it is easier to name and deal with. Many schools use them, though some add a fourth heading about commercial pressures such as in-game purchases and scams. How a school presents the topic and which examples it uses are its own choice, and lessons are usually matched to what pupils are actually using.

Content means what young people come across. This includes material that is violent, sexual, hateful or encourages self-harm, extreme or conspiracy content, and false or misleading information. Teenagers do not always go looking for it: autoplay, recommendations, group chats and links forwarded by friends can put it in front of them. Pupils learn to notice how it makes them feel, to close or leave it, to avoid forwarding it, and to tell someone, particularly if it frightened or upset them. They are also taught to ask who made something and why, because misleading content often works by making people react quickly.

Contact means who gets in touch with them and what that person wants. Most contact is harmless, but pupils learn warning signs: someone they do not know in real life becoming very friendly quickly, asking personal questions, offering gifts or compliments, asking to move to a more private chat, asking them to keep the conversation secret, or putting pressure on them to share images. People who want to harm or exploit young people, including adults pretending to be young, use these tactics to build trust. This is known as grooming. Schools teach that sharing sexual images of under-18s is against the law, that being pressured to send them is never the young person’s fault, and that they should not be blamed for telling someone.

Conduct is how people behave and how pupils themselves behave. It includes bullying, spreading rumours, sharing someone’s photo or private message without permission, exclusion from group chats, hate and joining in with pile-ons. Pupils learn that what feels like banter can hurt because tone does not travel in text, and that forwarding or liking a harmful post is taking part. They are encouraged to be an upstander rather than a bystander by supporting the person targeted, not joining in, and reporting.

Knowing how to report is the second half of the objective. Pupils learn to use a range of routes: telling a trusted adult at home or school, speaking to the school’s designated safeguarding lead, using the block and report tools in an app or game, keeping evidence such as screenshots before blocking, and contacting the police when a crime may have been committed, calling 999 if someone is in immediate danger. There are also free, confidential helplines for young people. Teachers stress that reporting is a sign of good judgement and that the person who reports should not be punished for what happened.

Words your child will hear

Content: Anything a person sees or reads online. Inappropriate content may be harmful, upsetting or unsuitable for their age.
Contact: Who gets in touch with you online, and what they want from you.
Conduct: How people behave online, including how you treat others.
Grooming: When someone builds trust with a child or young person in order to harm or exploit them.
Cyberbullying: Bullying that happens through phones, games, social platforms or messages.
Block and report: Tools in apps and games that stop a person contacting you and tell the service about the problem.
Designated safeguarding lead: The member of school staff responsible for dealing with concerns about children’s safety and welfare.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Key Stage 3 says:

Pupils should be taught to understand a range of ways to use technology safely, respectfully, responsibly and securely, including protecting their online identity and privacy; recognise inappropriate content, contact and conduct, and know how to report concerns
Aim: pupils are responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology.

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: deciding what to do

A Year 8 pupil plays an online game. A player they have never met, who says they are 14, chats every day, asks which school they go to, sends compliments and suggests moving to a private messaging app, saying ‘don’t tell your parents, they won’t get it’. What should the pupil do?

Sort the problem. This is a contact concern: the issue is who is getting in touch and what they want. Name it before deciding what to do.
Spot the warning signs. A stranger asking personal questions such as the pupil’s school, fast friendliness and compliments, a push to move to a private space and a request for secrecy. Anyone online can say they are 14, and there is no reliable way to check.
Stop sharing and stop replying. Do not give any more personal details, and do not move to the private app. Feeling a bit rude is fine; safety comes first.
Keep evidence, then block and report. Take screenshots of the messages and the player’s name, then use the game’s block and report tools so the service can act.
Tell a trusted adult, today. This could be a parent, a teacher or the school’s safeguarding lead. If the person has asked for images, been threatening or knows where the pupil lives, the adult can involve the police. The pupil has done nothing wrong by chatting.

The pupil should recognise the warning signs, stop sharing and replying, keep evidence, block and report within the game, and tell a trusted adult straight away. The secrecy request is the clearest reason to tell someone.

Common mistakes and how to help

Staying quiet because telling an adult will lead to losing their phone or getting in trouble

Many teenagers worry about this, often because of how adults have reacted in the past.

What helps: Say clearly, before anything happens, that you will stay calm, that they will not be punished for being targeted and that devices will not be taken away for telling. Listen first and decide on action together.

Thinking only strangers are risky, and that a friendly online person is a friend

Pupils are taught about ‘stranger danger’ from a young age, and someone who is kind and interested in them feels like a friend.

What helps: Explain that people can lie about who they are and that warning signs matter more than whether someone is known. Contact from people at school can also be unwelcome or harmful.

Believing that forwarding or liking something harmful is not ‘really’ doing anything

Tapping a button seems small and everyone else is doing it.

What helps: Explain that sharing spreads the harm and that people on the receiving end see who joined in. Practise one simple alternative, such as not responding, messaging the person who was targeted or reporting the post.

Believing that harmful content only appears if you go looking for it

Pupils assume they would feel in control, and may feel at fault when they see something upsetting by accident.

What helps: Remind them that recommendations, autoplay and shared links can show things unexpectedly. Seeing something is never their fault, and the helpful step is to leave it and say something.

How to help at home

Agree a no-blame promise. Tell your teenager plainly that they can come to you about anything online and will not lose their device for it. Say it calmly once, and keep to it when they test it.
Talk through ‘what would you do if…’. Pick a scenario from the news or from the example above and ask what they would do. Teenagers often know the right answer and just want to be trusted with it.
Find the block and report buttons together. Choose an app or game they use and locate the tools. Knowing exactly where they are makes it easier to use them in the moment.
Learn the school’s route. Find out who the designated safeguarding lead is and how pupils are told to report concerns. Mention helplines for young people, which are free and confidential, as another place to turn.
Keep the conversation going. Ask regularly what is happening in their group chats and games, with interest rather than inspection. Agreeing house rules about devices overnight and in bedrooms is a good moment to talk.

Builds on

Key Stage 2: Acceptable online behaviour
Key Stage 2: Reporting concerns online

Leads on to

Key Stage 4: Digital media skills
Key Stage 4: Online safety and privacy as technology changes
Key Stage 4: Reporting online concerns