$Talking About Difficult Issues (719) A workshop for parents\/carers$ How to have difficult conversations about porn and other online harms with your teen or pre-teen
About this Event

Does the amount of time your son or daughter spends on social media concern you?
Do you worry about who they are engaging with online?
Are you worried about the risk of your teen or pre-teen being exposed to inappropriate images and information?
Do you want to know how to help your young person to keep themselves safe online?
Would you like to find out how to talk with your child about difficult subjects, like pornography and consent?

These are big questions.

This is such a challenge for parents because these issues cannot be managed by simply installing parental controls on devices.

We understand that is can be easy to believe that your child would never be exposed to such things, but a recent Dignify survey of 14 to 18 year olds attending schools in South West Herts showed that 40% of the young people had seen pornography and the average age at which they first saw it was 12yrs.

In fact, the children's commissioner for England has long been advising parents to be brave and broach topics like porn, harrassment and other online dangers early to limit future risks.

It is the issue parents ask about most on every workshop and course that we run.

Parents are struggling to respond, with confidence, to challenges around phones, tablets, X Boxes, Playstations and social media especially with the constant worry about the amount of time spent on devices and the numerous ways young people have to interact with others and come across (or share) inappropriate images and information.

Here are some of the questions parents ask:

How do I know what my child is accessing?
I keep reading that I have to talk to my child about this but what do I say?
How can I keep my child safe when they won't talk to me?
How will I know if my teenager is doing something risky?
How can I talk to my child about porn and other online harms?

This workshop is about answering these questions and helping parents to:

Understand the reality. Using both national and local data we will consider how likely it is that a child will experience challenges whilst using their devices.
Consider why a young person might access porn, engage in communication with strangers and share inappropriate pictures.
Engage with their children and encourage critical thinking skills helping them to understand what they are seeing and reading.
Learn how to make it safe for young people to come to us if they are in trouble.
Develop ways to open up discussions about embarrassing and taboo subjects.
Learn what to say when things go wrong.
Help their young person to be able to keep themselves safe, now and in the future.

Parents will leave this workshop understanding what is happening for their child and what they can do about it.

Run by highly experienced facilitators, counsellors and parenting practitioners, this online workshop will incorporate a Q&A session.

Previous attendees of Supporting Links workshops have said:

“I thought the session was really interactive and informative. The visuals and clear presentation will help me remember everything. It covered my concerns in great detail."

"This is the best online session I have experienced. Being able to ask my question anonymously was incredibly helpful.”

This workshop is suitable for all parents and carers of children from Year 7 upwards at Dame Alice Owen's school .

There are a limited number of places which are offered on a first come, first served basis.

Please note that the payment is due on completion of this registration and is non-refundable, regardless of attendance.

We offer a limited number of subsidised places for parents/carers in receipt of Universal Credit or for those families in receipt of free school meals or Pupil Premium.

Supporting Links is an independent company.

To ask a question or for more information contact Noushin Rahman-Blake, Supporting Links on 01442 300185 or email [email protected].