Keeping your child safe on the internet
As we go deeper into the 21st century, the predominance of the internet in our lives becomes more and more perceptible. You might have sailed smoothly through your school days with help from the library and your teachers’ suggestions but the way things unravel for your children these days are quite different. If you have a kid at home, you already know that they cannot do one day without their precious laptop which they use to research everything from school project information to the song videos of the latest pop singer sensation. Internet safety for kids is a topic that requires serious contemplation because the pitfalls and many.
But there is where the problem lies. With great internet access comes great responsibility to ensure internet safety for your kids. How you ask? Go through our tips so that you can monitor internet usage and talk your kids through all the potential internet dangers!
Keep your kids safe online with these tips
- Screen Names
Ask your kids to refrain from creating screen names which include their date of birth or their last name when they are playing an online game.
- Personal Information
Social networking sites are taking over the world right now and it is difficult to keep your kid safe from the contagion. Just make sure your children know that no matter how trustworthy and sincere a stranger on the internet appears to be, they should never dole out any personal information, be it your home address, telephone number, last name or even the name of their school without asking you for permission first.
- Pictures
Documenting their lives by sharing pictures on the internet is a pretty common phenomenon these days. Ask your kids to tamper a bit with their profile setting so that the privacy is always set to private. In that way, only his or her close family and friends can view the pictures.
- Passwords
If your kid can’t share their passwords with you, ask them to show the same discretion where their boyfriends or girlfriends are concerned. They should know how to log out of their profiles when using the internet on a public computer so that no one can take undue advantage of their carelessness.
- Online Bullying
In the topsy-turvy world of the internet, almost every other person is waiting to dispense appreciation and criticism about your life in equal measure. For teenagers who are already grappling with self-confidence issues, online bullying can be counterproductive. Let them know you will be there to talk things out if anything negatively affects them on the internet. Similarly, you should strongly advise them against bullying anyone and rather express their opinions in a neutral tone.
- Meeting Strangers
Never allow your children to meet with strangers they have interacted with online. It won’t be possible for you to oversee their meeting and it will do more harm than good.
- Knowing the tropes in Research
Encourage your children to ask their teachers for the names of some websites from where they can safely download the research material rather than exploring some other shady sites which might open up pornographic websites.
- Downloading Attachments
Some of the attachments that your kids receive in their mail might contain viruses so tell them to ask you before downloading attachments from a mail address you don’t recognize.
It is not enough to read through our tips and asking your kids to implement them in their lives but you should also encourage other parents to make an effort to make the internet safe for their kids. What are you waiting for?
Related Content: 7 Expert Internet Safety Tips for Kids
