Online Safety
A new challenge appears to be circulating recently on a number of social media platforms that young people frequent. This is known as the “48 Hour Challenge” and involves youngsters joining in challenges to go missing for 48 hours. The implication for parents, carers and schools would clearly be considerable. Kirklees Safeguarding Children Board have received this response from the UK Safer Internet Centre who have posted information on their website. It is summarised here:

48 Hour Missing Challenge
The so called “48 hour missing challenge” appears to have arisen following recent reports of young people going missing.
The UK Safer Internet Centre is not currently aware of any evidence to directly link such disappearances with an online challenge.
When such stories arise it taps into parents’ fears, causing a ripple effect. This can prompt intrigue among young people that may have the adverse effect of leading them into exploring the very harmful behaviours that we are trying to protect them from.

Our Advice
One of the key issues raised over online challenges is that of peer pressure. Young people can sometimes be drawn into online challenges because it is what all their friends are doing and saying no can seem like a very hard thing to do.
We would advise parents and carers to have an open and honest conversation with their children. Ask your children about what they’re seeing online and be prepared to talk about some difficult topics around negative influences online.
For more information about our advice around online challenges visit;

There are also tools that some parents my find helpful in managing their children’s online use – for more information, please visit www.saferinternet.org.uk