Online Safety Tips Every Parent Should Know
Nowadays, most of us don’t remember the
pre-Internet era clearly. Since we are all living in a complex digital world,
making the Internet one of the basic human rights, the United Nations declared
that the Internet has given us the impeccable level of the freedom of
expression and moreover, provided us with the endless possibilities for the
development and prosperity of the whole mankind.
However, at the same time, the Internet became the floodgate for all kinds of
crimes and fraudsters, which basically turned cybercrime into the fastest
growing crime in the world. No matter, whether you’re shopping, chatting with
someone or just looking for any kind of information, you may never know who’s
on the other end. Kids tend to be more vulnerable to Internet threats if
compared to adults, thus we will provide you with the best Internet safety tips
every parent should know.
Learn More Yourself
Recent studies show that most of the modern-day parents are likely to be considered Internet-savvy, however, when it comes to the basic Internet safety rules, there’s a clear lack of knowledge in this area. You would only be able to protect your child only in the case you know something about the safety online yourself. You can find plenty of information on the topic online. For example, the US non-profit organization Tech Corps created the list of most-useful Internet safety resources that will help you educate yourself and your kid. There are also such useful websites like SafeKids.org.
Educate your Kid
The best thing you can do for your kids about online defense is to educate them properly. A kid that knows a lot more is not as vulnerable as it may seem. There are a whole bunch of precautions that can be taken to help your kid stay safe online:
- Never ever let your kid make friends online –
one of the most valid points is not to make any friends online. Getting
acquainted in real life is among those vital precautions you may take to keep
your child safe unless you know someone in person. This does not apply to
school friends, next-door kids or brothers, and sisters.
- Set Up Privacy Setting on Social Media Accounts – teach your kids to set up their social media accounts restricted
from everyone’s access and moreover, to check from time to time whether it
works properly or not. Leaving your kid’s account open makes him or her a perfect target for online threats.
- Avoid Posting Personal Information Elsewhere –
you, as a parent, should be extremely careful with what is posted on your kid’s
personal social media page. For instance, any content you post can be retweeted
or reposted without your permission and you basically lose control over that
information. Make sure to turn off Location Settings for both Twitter and
Facebook, another lead to get your kid tracked.
- Deactivate Old Accounts your Kid might have –
the list is not only limited to the social media accounts only. God knows how
much of personal information could be leaking from the old game profiles, sites
like Netflix or Lego-forums. Make sure to remove everything that is not used
and you are aware of.
- Teach them the Basic Knowledge of Critical Thinking – teach your kids to think critically and recognize possible threats they might come across while being online along with not taking anything at a face value.
Don’t Ban Technology
There’s nothing worse for your kid than being cut off from the Internet access, even though you think it is a wise move. You will not gain great results if any at all. Moreover, the kids will probably serf the Internet at their friend’s home or at school, behind your back. In case you fail to help them with answering their questions, they would have no other option but search for the answers online. The Internet can be truly considered one of the inventions that helped the whole humankind to develop as faster as never before. All you need to do is to allow your kids to use it wisely for educational and entertainment purposes.
Set Up Parental Controls Why banning the whole Internet access for your kid when you are able to restrict access to the most sensitive content available online: violence, erotic scenes or simply the content you don’t want your kid to be aware of. All of the most popular streaming services like Netflix, Youtube, Disney or HBO have parental control options available. The same relates to videogames, browsers, and smartphones. You are even able to lock the certain IP address to block the access for your kid. In case you’re not tech-savvy, get help from your local Internet providers, they will be more than happy to help you out with that.
Set Up House Rules and Stimulate Open Communication
Gain trust and become a true friend for your kid. Modern children are pretty well-educated for their age and might know much more than their parents. Especially when it comes to navigating on the Internet and breaking restrictions. Let your kid know to appreciate the rules you set up for the basic Internet safety precautions and explain why obeying them is vitally important. Open communication will help your kid to follow the rules that were installed.
What to Do in Case you Think your Kid is in Danger?
The first thing you should do about that is to identify the kind of threat your kid is affected by. There is a whole bunch of options possible online. In case your kid is being bullied online, it would be a nice chance for you to step in and find the parents of that bully to put out the flame before it gets worse. Online scam or dangerous contacts with a stranger is a lot different story. Once you identify the threat, try to do reverse person lookup on Nuwber and pass the information to the law enforcement authorities.
In conclusion, we would like to stress the fact that the Internet may be quite a dangerous place nowadays in case it’s not treated with care and attention. With the help of the mentioned above, you would reduce the risk of any threats for your kid to minimum.