Your Child Will Be Exposed To The Internet
There are a wide range of threats to children online. These threats come in many different forms, from cyberbullying to identity theft schemes to predators who want to meet your child offline. These threats can be daunting and difficult to fathom, but with solid awareness and a plan to keep your child protected, your child can avoid most online pitfalls.
Your child is going to be exposed to the internet. In this day and age, it is unavoidable. Your child will be online at school, or at a friend’s house, and you won’t always be able to directly monitor them. You can’t prevent your child from being online, but you can instill good habits and keep tabs on their internet use in general. Here is what you need to do in order to keep your child safe when they are online.
Defining Safe Internet Use For Children
The first thing that you need to do is work to understand what safe internet use for children is. You should instill in your children that they need to keep their phone numbers, home addresses, and personal contact information offline. They shouldn’t talk to strangers online, and you should let your children know what types of websites are acceptable for viewing and which types of websites to avoid.
A child without direction could give away personal information to a stranger in a chatroom. If a child feels uncomfortable or that they made a mistake online, they should contact an adult they know and trust immediately. One easy way to keep you and your child’s personal information safe is through the use of a VPN.
Parents And Children Need To Stay Aware Online
There are new dangers popping up online each year, and parents need to know the dangers so that they can keep their children protected. There are email phishing schemes that seek to gain access to children’s personal information with a seemingly harmless email message. There are the risks of cyberbullying and pornography. Parents should stay aware of the risks and keep their children up to date on new potential threats online.
Tips For Parents
The good news for parents is that when children stay safe online, they can have a good time and learn more than if they were offline. The key is to establish rules early in the process so children know what is in bounds and what is off-limits. Make sure that your children use strong passwords and always log out of their email and social media accounts, so that they don’t allow access to the next person who uses their computer (such as at a school computer library).
Parents should always read the fine print on social media sites that their children join, so they are aware of the information that brands and other third parties can gain access to.
This is a sponsored guest post that does not necessarily represent the views or ideals of Mommy Ramblings.
