As a parent, one of your biggest concerns about your children is keeping them safe. You’ve probably taught them countless times to stay away from strangers, to use only familiar routes home, get home before dark and so on. But there’s another realm away from the real world that poses great danger to kids these days- the internet.
From cyber bullying to inappropriate content, exposure to child molesters and more, being online exposes children to lots of risks. However, it isn’t possible to keep them away from the internet totally seeing as we live in the technology age. Here are some tips to keep your little ones safe.
If using a desktop or laptop, make sure it’s placed in a common area of the house. This way you can easily monitor what sites the kids are on. The computer screen should be visible from various positions in the room. It should also not be facing a wall. Don’t allow your child to use a tablet or phone in their room. Of course as they grow into teenagehood this becomes tricky- balancing supervision with respecting their privacy.
Check if your internet service provider has any parental controls you can employ for home use. You can set controls for specific sites and also for each device.
To help them understand your concerns, talk with your children about the dangers they can encounter online. This way it doesn’t feel like you’re just trying to curtail your freedom. They’ll understand that you want them to stay safe. Explain to them the perils of giving out personal information, joining chat rooms with strangers, arranging meetings with strangers from the internet and so on.
Using the internet can easily become addictive, even for adults. As such you need to set time limits for the kids. They may not enjoy it but this helps safeguard them from being hooked to the screen. For the limits to be effective you need to stand your ground when the child tries to wiggle out. But you may allow them extended time once in a while for special occasions.
Social media sites have morphed from avenues to connect with friends to showoff platforms. Your child may feel the pressure to post photos of themselves to impress. However, you should help them realise their self worth isn’t determined by what others say. Also regulate which photos of himself/ herself your child posts, before they do. There are many creeps out there fishing for photos of children for ulterior motives.
