Childline launches mobile app to help young people deal with sexting requests

Zipit is ChildLine’s first ever app, available for Android, Apple and BlackBerry smartphones (and iPod touch). It’s free to download and has handy tips and suggested responses that will help young people stay in control of their chat. Click here for more information.

Facebook makes changes to privacy settings for teens

Last week Facebook introduced some chages to how teens use the service. Here is a brief summary: When 13-17 year olds join Facebook now, their initial privacy setting will be to share with 'Friends' instead of 'Friends of Friends', which it was previously. Facebook now makes it possible for 13-17 year olds to post publicly on Facebook for status updates, photos, check-ins and other content. Teens will also be able to opt-in to the 'Follow' feature. Previously, teens could not make public posts. Facebook rationale is to enable teens to have a voice on the platform - to share their views and opinions. Facebook has introduced inline reminders - so when a teen chooses to post publicly, they will see a reminder that the post can be seen by anyone and an option to change the sharing option for the post. More information can be found on Facebook's Help Center.