Our Policies

The purpose of this policy statement

Famallama works with children and families as part of its activities. These include: our Minecraft server and Discord, for the over 13's. The purpose of this policy statement is to:

• ensure the safety and wellbeing of children and young people is paramount when adults, young people or children are using the internet, social media or mobile devices
• provide staff and volunteers with the overarching principles that guide our approach to online safety
• ensure that, as an organisation, we operate in line with our values and within the law in terms of how we use online devices

This policy statement applies to all volunteer staff and players involved in Famallama's activities.

Legal framework

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in the United Kingdom. Summaries of the key legislation and guidance are available on:

• online abuse — learning.nspcc.org.uk/child-abuse-and-neglect/online-abuse
• bullying — learning.nspcc.org.uk/child-abuse-and-neglect/bullying
• child protection — learning.nspcc.org.uk/child-protection-system

We believe that

• children and young people should never experience abuse of any kind
• children should be able to use the internet for education and personal development, but safeguards need to be in place to ensure they are kept safe at all times

We recognise that

• the online world provides everyone with many opportunities; however it can also present risks and challenges
• we have a duty to ensure that all children, young people and adults involved in our organisation are protected from potential harm online
• we have a responsibility to help keep children and young people safe online, whether or not they are using Famallama's server, social media or Discord
• working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people's welfare and in helping young people to be responsible in their approach to online safety
• all children, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, have the right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse

We will seek to keep children and young people safe by

• appointing an online safety coordination team — in our case, the admin team
• supporting and encouraging the young people using our service to use the internet in a way that keeps them safe and shows respect for others
• supporting and encouraging parents and carers to do what they can to keep their children safe online
• developing clear and robust procedures to enable us to respond appropriately to any incidents of inappropriate online behaviour, whether by an adult, a child, or a young person
• reviewing and updating the security of our systems regularly, including adding safety plugins to keep our members safe when playing
• ensuring that usernames, logins, email accounts and passwords are used effectively
• ensuring personal information about the adults and children who are involved in our organisation is held securely and shared only as appropriate
• examining and risk-assessing any new technologies before they are used within Famallama

If online abuse occurs, we will respond to it by

• having clear and robust safeguarding procedures in place for responding to online abuse within our organisation
• providing support and advice to our volunteer staff dealing with all forms of abuse, including bullying or cyberbullying, emotional abuse, sexting, sexual abuse and sexual exploitation
• making sure our response takes the needs of the person experiencing abuse, any bystanders, and our organisation as a whole into account
• reviewing the plan developed to address online abuse at regular intervals, in order to ensure that any problems have been resolved in the long term