Key Stage 4 computing · Digital literacy and online safety

GCSE reporting online concerns: a guide for parents

Knowing something is wrong online is only half of staying safe: young people also need to know what to do next. In Years 10 and 11 the National Curriculum asks schools to teach pupils how to report a range of concerns, from upsetting content and bullying to scams, pressure and threats. This guide explains the routes available and how you can make it easier for your teenager to use them.

Reporting online concerns, explained

The statutory curriculum says all pupils should be taught to understand how changes in technology affect safety, including new ways to protect their online privacy and identity, and how to report a range of concerns. At Key Stage 3 children learned to recognise inappropriate content, contact and conduct and to report them. By Key Stage 4 the range is wider and the situations less clear-cut. A worry might involve a friend, a stranger, a platform’s rules, or the law, and teenagers must decide who the right person to tell is.

The concerns teachers talk about include upsetting or harmful content, bullying or harassment, unwanted contact from people they do not know, pressure to send or share intimate images, someone threatening to share private material, scams and fraud, hacked accounts, false information, and messages that encourage self-harm or extreme views. Each has a sensible first step. A common thread is that the person affected is rarely to blame, and that reporting is a safe, adult thing to do rather than telling tales.

Pupils learn that there are several layers. First, the platform: most services have tools to report a post, message or account, and to block or mute someone. Second, a trusted adult, which could be a parent, a teacher or the school’s designated safeguarding lead, who is trained to act on concerns. Third, free and confidential helplines for children and young people, which can be used without a parent’s involvement. Fourth, the police: dialling 999 if someone is in immediate danger, 101 for non-emergencies, and specialist online routes for suspected abuse or exploitation of children. Fraud and scams can also be reported to a national reporting service for fraud.

Reporting well matters too. Pupils are taught to keep evidence, such as screenshots of threatening messages, usernames and dates, and not to delete the conversation. The exception is any intimate image of a person under 18: it should not be forwarded, copied or kept as evidence, because it is illegal to share or hold such images of under-18s, even between young people. A trusted adult and the police can deal with it instead, and the child should get help rather than feel to blame. Staying calm, not retaliating and not paying anyone who makes threats are also part of the guidance. The school can advise on next steps, and there are services that help young people get images of themselves removed from the internet.

Words your child will hear

Report: Tell the platform, a trusted adult or an authority about something harmful or worrying.
Block: Stop another account from contacting you or seeing what you post.
Evidence: Screenshots, messages, usernames and dates that show what happened.
Designated safeguarding lead: The member of school staff trained to deal with concerns about a child’s safety.
Grooming: When someone builds a relationship with a young person to manipulate or exploit them.
Sextortion: Blackmail in which someone threatens to share intimate images unless they are paid or sent more.
Cyberbullying: Bullying carried out through messages, posts, images or online games.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Key Stage 4 says:

All pupils should be taught to understand how changes in technology affect safety, including new ways to protect their online privacy and identity, and how to report a range of 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 when someone makes threats

A 15-year-old is messaged by an account that claims to be a pupil from a nearby school. After days of friendly chat, the person persuades the child to send a private picture, then says they will send it to the child’s followers unless they get money. What should the child do?

Stop and do not reply, pay or send anything more. Threats like these rely on panic and secrecy. Paying rarely ends the demands and usually leads to more.
Keep the evidence. Take screenshots of the threats, the username and the profile, and note the dates, but do not screenshot or save any intimate image. Do not delete the chat yet. Do not forward any images, even to a friend for advice.
Tell a trusted adult as soon as possible. Say plainly what happened. Being tricked is not their fault, because these people are skilled at winning trust, often using a fake identity.
Use the platform’s tools: report the account for blackmail or threatening behaviour, then block it. Check the privacy settings so that only trusted people can message or see friend lists.
Report it to the police. In an emergency, ring 999. Otherwise, the adult can use 101 or the specialist online route for child exploitation. Tell the school’s designated safeguarding lead, who can offer support and advise on getting images removed.
Look after the child. Reassure them they are not in trouble, keep communication open, and consider the free confidential helplines for young people if they want to talk to someone outside the family.

Do not pay or respond, keep evidence without forwarding any images, tell a trusted adult straight away, report and block the account on the platform, report to the police, inform the school, and give calm, non-judgemental support. The child is the victim, not the one in the wrong.

Common mistakes and how to help

“Reporting will get me in trouble or take my phone away”

Teenagers often fear losing their device or being blamed, so they stay silent. Offenders know this and sometimes rely on it.

What helps: Say in advance, and mean it, that you will help first and talk about rules afterwards. Teenagers who believe that are far more likely to come to you early.

“Blocking someone is enough”

Blocking stops contact from one account, so it feels like the end of the problem. Anyone can make another account, and a block does not tell the platform or the police anything.

What helps: Block to stop immediate contact, but also report, so that the platform can act and the evidence is recorded.

“Deleting everything makes the problem go away”

It feels like erasing the problem, but it destroys the evidence needed to identify the sender and take action.

What helps: Save screenshots and details first. The one exception is intimate images of anyone under 18, which should not be saved or passed on; describe them to a trusted adult and report instead.

“Only serious crimes are worth reporting”

Children weigh up whether something is “bad enough”, and low-level harassment, repeated unkind comments or odd requests from strangers get brushed off.

What helps: Explain that patterns matter. Ask them to report if something feels uncomfortable or if they are unsure, and let the adult or the platform judge how serious it is.

How to help at home

Agree a no-blame promise. Tell your teenager that if something goes wrong online, you will deal with the problem first and talk about rules later. Put it in so many words and repeat it occasionally.
Practise the first steps. Find the report and block buttons on the apps they use, together, before any problem arises. Knowing where they are removes a barrier when they are upset.
Make a list of people to tell. Help your child name three trusted adults, including one outside the family, such as a teacher or a relative. Include the school’s safeguarding lead and the helplines for young people.
Talk through scenarios calmly. Use a story from the news or a made-up situation: “What would you do if a stranger asked for a picture?” Rehearsing the answer makes it easier to remember when it counts.
Respond gently if they do tell you. Thank them for telling you, stay calm, and ask what they need. Reacting with anger or panic teaches them not to ask next time, however upset you feel.

Builds on

Key Stage 3: Online identity, privacy and security
Key Stage 3: Spotting and reporting online concerns