Counter Terrorism Policing West Midlands are encouraging parents to support their children to be safer online during the summer holidays

Dear Resident,

Counter Terrorism Policing West Midlands are urging parents to help keep their children safe online over the summer break.

With the school holidays underway, young people will be spending more time online in the coming weeks and we’re reminding parents and guardians to ensure they know how to manage their children’s online safety, and remind them of some of the things they can do to support their children to be safer in online spaces.

This follows messages delivered by Counter Terrorism Policing and the National Crime Agency last week, who are increasingly seeing children being routinely exposed to the most serious harmful online content.

This includes sexual violence; self-harm and suicide content; extreme gore; animal cruelty; indecent images of children; and terrorist content.

This bombardment of online harms can quickly become normalised. Worryingly, some of the children who come to the attention of Counter Terrorism Policing and the National Crime Agency are completely desensitised to extreme and obscene content.

During the summer holidays, young people will increasingly be spending more time in online spaces including gaming platforms, messaging apps and other online forums. Unfortunately, we know that these can be spaces where online offenders can exploit the school holidays to engage in criminal acts with young people when they know less support is available.

We’re sharing some practical advice to help parents feel empowered to support their children to be safer online.

Having conversations with young people about who they talk to online and the platforms they use can help parents to understand the online lives of their children and type of content they are consuming. Parents and guardians can then support them with identifying harmful content and knowing what to do if they come across something that concerns them.

Physical measures such as using parental controls on apps, routers and individual devices can also help, but it’s essential that these take place alongside regular conversations to help children and young people make the right decisions when online.

Detective Chief Superintendent Alison Hurst, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing West Midlands, said: “Unfortunately we know that nationally more and more young people are being exposed to harmful content online and led down dangerous paths because they are being targeted by criminal gangs or extremists. This is happening across a range of criminality, including child sexual abuse, violence and terrorism.

“By speaking directly to parents, guardians and caregivers, we hope to increase awareness of the dangers young people may be facing online, and empower them to feel confident in supporting their children and protecting their safety in online spaces.

“We encourage you to speak to your children about their online safety and the type of content they’re looking at. If they see something that concerns them, report it to us straight away.”

Counter Terrorism Policing and MI5 are seeing high levels of young people in terrorism-related investigations and 2023 saw the highest numbers of terrorism arrests of young people since records began. This slightly decreased in 2024, but it’s vital to keep the conversation going to protect young people online.

They said a significant proportion of parents are unaware of their children’s online safety – who they talked to, the content they viewed and the platforms they use.

With the school holidays underway, it’s important to start the conversation about online safety as soon as possible.

Internet Matters provides practical advice to parents on how to help their children navigate the ever-changing digital landscape.

Parents and carers can access information and advice specific to their child’s age, the apps they use, or the issue they wish to address.

Anyone with concerns can report to us by calling 101 or 999 in an emergency.

You can report extremist or terrorist online content anonymously online at gov.uk/report-terrorism.

If you’re concerned that someone might be taking a dangerous path, get advice and support via ACT Early.