Safeguarding at Cornerstone Methodist Church uses the Safeguarding Principles for the Church of England and the Methodist Church
Every person has a value and dignity which comes directly from the creation of male and female in God's own image and likeness. Christians see this potential as fulfilled by God's re-creation of us in Christ. Among other things this implies a duty to value all people as bearing the image of God and therefore to protect them from harm.
Click here to view the "Social Media Safeguarding Policy for Cornerstone Methodist Church".
We are committed to :-
We will carefully select and train all those with any responsibility within the Church, in line with Safer Recruitment principles, including the use of criminal records disclosures and registration with the relevant vetting and barring schemes.
We will respond without delay to every complaint made which suggests that an adult, child or young person may have been harmed, cooperating with the police and local authority in any investigation.
We will seek to work with anyone who has suffered abuse, developing with them an appropriate ministry of informed pastoral care.
We will seek to challenge any abuse of power, especially by anyone in a position of trust.
We will seek to offer pastoral care and support, including supervision and referral to the proper authorities, to any member of our church community known to have offended against a child, young person or vulnerable adult.
In all these principles we will follow legislation, guidance and recognised good practice.
A Christian approach to safeguarding children will expect both individuals and communities to :-
God's mission is a message of good news, of love and welcome for the poor
Adult safeguarding incorporates the concept of prevention, empowerment and protection to enable adults who are in circumstances that make them vulnerable to retain independence, well-being and choice and to access their right to a life free from abuse and neglect.
Cornerstone Methodist Church has an up to date Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults Policy
All the safeguarding information can be found here.
As part of our Safeguarding role, I’ve been tasked to look into the grey, and sensitive, area of Privacy Settings on Facebook.
When you post anything on Facebook, there are 3 main Privacy Settings that you can use –
1. Public – shown as a small world icon next to the post details
2. Friends – shown as a small icon of two friends next to the post details
3. Only me – shown as a padlock icon next to the post details.
The Privacy Settings for particular post can be set to one of these main settings before you actually commit to posting to your timeline by click the drop down list that will say either "Public", "Friends" or "Only Me".
ONCE YOU HAVE SET THE PRIVACY SETTINGS FOR A POST, THAT SETTING WILL STAY IN PLACE UNTIL YOU CHANGE IT AGAIN.
The three main settings change who can see your posts. Everyone can see "Public" posts, only your friends can see "Friends" posts and only you can see "Only Me" posts.
If a post is shared by somebody else, the original Privacy Settings are used by the shared post. "Public" posts could be available to everybody, "Friends" posts will be shared only with YOUR friends and not with the friends of the person who shared it (unless they are mutual friends). "Only Me" posts cannot be shared as they are only available to you.
Facebook provides a useful tool to allow you to see which of your posts are public and which posts can only be seen by a specific friend.
The tool, "What do other people see on my Timeline?", doesn’t appear to be available on my phone's Facebook app but it may be available on other versions of phones and tablets.
If you log on to Facebook via a Web Browser on your PC/laptop, e.g. Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox etc, and click on the "Privacy Shortcuts" icon, shown as a small padlock at the top of the screen, 4 options will be shown.
By clicking on "Who can see my stuff?", 3 new options will appear.
When you press the "View as" link under "What do other people see on my Timeline?" option, your timeline will be displayed showing exactly what anyone who viewed your Timeline can see, i.e. the "Public".
There is also an option to type in a particular friend's name to see what they are able to see.
One thing that becomes obvious when you look at the "Public" view is that any Profile Pictures or Cover Photos are available to be viewed by everyone on Facebook.
As Facebook use your Profile Picture to allow people to search for your profile, the "Privacy Settings" cannot be changed (but you can switch off who can see the "comments" and "likes" on your profile photo). The Cover Photos are always available to everyone on Facebook.
These two things are particularly important if you don't want other people to see any sensitive photos, e.g. of your children, as although other photos can be hidden from the public, the Profile and Cover Photos cannot.
This not only gives people access to screenshot your Profile and Cover photos but can also give the impression that you are ok for other people to see and maybe post photos of the sensitive material on their own timeline.
Please take some time to look at what on your timeline is available for public viewing and either change your Privacy Settings (by clicking on the down arrow next to the little privacy icon on each post) or, particularly in the case of Profile and Cover photos, removing any sensitive material.