In the current digital era, it is crucial to protect children’s online safety. Almost every child has a smartphone and multiple social media accounts. Everywhere you look, children are glued to their phones, frequently scrolling through amusing videos or engaging in social mobile gaming. Technology has played an important role in children being able to connect easily with their friends and family online (gone are the days of pagers and payphones) while also using it for education, leisure, entertainment and many other things. But still, there are dangers that lurk in every corner of the digital world. Protecting children from potential dangers and difficulties they might face online is a crucial responsibility of parents. Here are some essential tactics parents can use to deal with children and online safety.
Image Credit: https://adamhardingwillis.com/dynepic
Open Communication
Talk to your child in an honest and open manner. Encourage them to open up about their online experiences and worries without worrying about criticism. To create a safe environment where everyone can make mistakes and learn from them, you can also share your experiences with them. You’ll be able to understand their online activities and help them make safe decisions with the help of regular conversations. Spend some time each day or week talking with your child about their use of the internet. When speaking to your child, maintain a calm and neutral tone; avoid being patronising or authoritative. Instead of attempting to assist your child, it might appear that you are talking down to them.
Image Credit: https://vpnoverview.com/internet-safety/kids-online/kids-internet-safety-tips/
Set up definite limits and rules for your child’s online behaviour. Talk to them about appropriate online conduct, websites they can visit and the value of privacy. Use filters and parental controls that are appropriate for the child’s age to prevent access to inappropriate content. Tell them why you are limiting their access to certain websites and be sure to give them an explanation. They might feel that you are being unfair and inflexible if you simply ban them without giving them an explanation. Your child might decide to become more clever in the future and hide their internet browsing history rather than being honest with you.
Monitor and Educate
Keep an eye on your child’s online behaviour on a regular basis without violating their privacy. Use parental control software to monitor their online activity and block shady sites. Ensure they are connecting with reliable people by keeping an eye on their social media profiles. You don’t have to read through every comment or post they make! That would come off as slightly overbearing. Parental controls will make it easier for you to recognise dubious websites, offensive language and sites that have viruses or malware. If you see your child engaging in unsupervised activities, talk to them and explain the risks.
Image Credit: https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/infographics/infographic-parental-control-internet-safety-for-kids
Teach your child the importance of practising responsible online behaviour. Inform them about phishing scams, cyberbullying risks and the importance of reporting inappropriate content. Encourage them to exercise caution before disclosing sensitive information or communicating with unfamiliar people online. Educate them on the dangers of blindly following online hacks that actually do not work and, in the process, potentially causing harm to themselves. There have been many documented cases of children testing out viral cooking hacks and ending up with burns or cuts. Teach your child why these hacks are false and how to spot disinformation and misinformation in the future.
Encourage Offline Activities
When children have nothing to do, they tend to turn to the fun and exciting online world to cure their boredom. Balance your child’s online activities with offline engagements. Encourage your children to engage in hobbies, exercise and quality time with their family and friends. Give your child the flexibility to decide when they want to engage in offline and online activities. This will help create a healthy balance and reduce the amount of time spent in front of screens. You can take this time to bond with your child; go on daily walks with them after work, and you can talk about your days or if anything interesting has happened. You can also sign your child up for weekend activities or summer camps to keep them occupied! Avoid overwhelming them and include them in the selection of activities.
Set a positive example by acting responsibly online. Respect privacy, limit screen time and interact positively with others online. By watching your digital usage, your child will pick up insightful lessons. Be careful not to post offensive or inappropriate content. Before participating in negative online discussions or saying hurtful things, think twice. Show respect and empathy towards others, both in your online interactions and in your discussions about online behaviour with your child. This will be especially helpful if you are friends with your child on social media! If you aren’t, then your child probably would have snooped through your profile at least once!
Image Credit: https://gifer.com/en/WNFd
Be a Cool Parent
Keep up with the newest social media platforms, popular apps and online trends. Learn about potential risks and ways to improve your online safety. Participate in seminars and workshops on online safety and digital literacy. The world is constantly changing, particularly when it comes to technology, so you should stay up to date to teach your child good online behaviour. One example of recent trends would be deep fakes; synthetic media that have been digitally manipulated to replace one person’s likeness convincingly with that of another. Deep fakes have been used to harass and scam people. You can discuss and share your thoughts on the topic of deep fakes with your child and educate them on how to handle the situation if they are caught in a deep fake scam.
Image Credit: https://medium.com/@cyberprotect/are-your-business-fraud-process-ready-to-deepfake-fraud-dc9df14fee39
Develop a relationship of trust with your children and let them know they can come to you with any issues or incidents they have with the internet. Instead of covering up their mistakes and making things worse, your child should see you as someone they can turn to. By avoiding shame or blame, create a safe environment for discussion and concentrate on coming up with solutions as a team. When they do come to you with issues or incidents, pay close attention to what they have to say, then calmly offer solutions. Don’t point the finger at your child; instead, show them how to handle it and avoid future recurrences.
By implementing these techniques, parents can give their children access to a secure digital environment and equip them with the skills they need to behave responsibly in it. Your children will learn how to behave responsibly and intelligently online and be equipped to deal with any problems they encounter. Stay safe online and happy browsing!
