Online Safety

A horror game character from ‘Poppy Playtime’ named ‘Huggy Wuggy’ has been raising concerns amongst police, safeguarding professionals and parents, therefore we wanted to share this information and make you aware of the issue. 

Although Poppy Playtime was released last year, there has been a surge in the creation of Huggy Wuggy related content recently. The Dorset Police Cyber Protection Officer has recently released a statement, warning parents that children may unwillingly be viewing graphic fan-made videos that are popping up on platforms such as YouTube and TikTok. Due to the name of the character, these videos are ‘slipping through the net’ of platforms’ safeguarding measures like content filtering and age restrictions.

Below are a few tips for helping the children in your care:

• Ensure your children are always closely supervised by an adult when they have access to any device which allows online streaming or gaming
• If they have not mentioned Huggy Wuggy or Poppy Playtime, don’t name it. You may pique their curiosity which in turn could lead to them searching out content
• If you hear a child in your care mention Huggy Wuggy, ask them about the things they enjoy watching and if anything they’ve seen has made them frightened or upset
• Remind your child that if they ever feel sad, worried or frightened by anything they see, they should always talk to / show a trusted adult immediately
• Use the Guided Access feature on your device to lock sections of the screen, preventing your child from leaving the app or video you have allowed them to use.   If you are unsure of how to do this, simply search Google, typing ‘how to use guided access on (insert the type of device) and follow the instructions

For further information about E-Safety (Online Safety) please visit our school website at

https://www.cherryoak.bham.sch.uk/e-safety-online-safety/