Online Safety Guide - MYLOL
Dear Parent(s)/Carers,
As you know, we use National Online Safety resources to support our online safety learning. As well as offering parental courses, they give us regular Online Safety Guides, which we publish on our school website - https://www.plantationprimary.com/page/online-safety-guides/58067.
The most recent guide about an app which promotes itself as ‘the #1 teen dating site in the world’ has caused us great concern and is something we feel the need to flag with you. The age range is supposed to be 13-19 but we all know that applications like this can easily be accessed by younger children. There are then the dangers of older children, or adults posing as children, accessing the site, contacting younger children and either trying to set up meetings or pressuring children to do things such as send inappropriate pictures of themselves. The dangers are widespread and very real. Below is a section of text taken from the National Online Safety website:
“The #1 teen dating website in the world.” That’s the claim of MyLOL, which offers 13 to 19-year-olds the chance to rate each other’s pics, send private messages and contact strangers online. If that sets your alarm bells ringing, you’re far from alone: law enforcement agencies and schools in several countries have seen fit to issue warnings about the platform.
Among the main issues is the fact that MyLOL doesn’t have a reliable age verification method – meaning there’s no foolproof way to stop anyone outside the platform’s intended 13–19 audience signing up for an account under a false age. Our #WakeUpWednesday guide also highlights potential concerns around in-app purchases and the use of geolocation for sinister reasons.
Please take the time to read the guide, check your child’s phone for the app and, if necessary speak to your child about the issues it raises. We have decided to send this out to all parents as we know some of our youngest children have older siblings who may have accessed this app.
Kind Regards
Mr Boulton