With the internet being more accessible daily, keeping your kids safe online is crucial, especially if you cannot always be certain about what they read or watch. A recent UK survey revealed that approximately 58% of youngsters streamed live video content. With the numbers increasing to 80% of 16 and 17-year-olds, you cannot leave anything to chance. Therefore, adding online safety to your parenting toolkit is practical if you haven’t already. Here are four tips to get you started.
Open up about online safety
Your kids are old enough to talk about their online safety if they know how to get online. Starting the conversation early can make things much easier as they mature. Speak to them about the content they read, videos they watch, and the people they communicate with online. Learn about the website and apps they use and look them up. Doing this allows you to teach them what is appropriate and drum home why the conversation may differ from other families. Also, allowing your kids to share their thoughts can enable you to reach a consensus on what is best for the family. Remember that they will use the internet outside the home at some point. So what you teach them now will be key to ensuring their safety and also make it easier for them to approach you if they have any concerns or questions.
Know your kids’ online friends
As beneficial as the internet can be, many individuals are also not who they claim to be on the internet. Unfortunately, young kids can be very naive regarding those they interact with online. Teaching your kids cyber-safety is essential, but learning who they are friends with and those inside their social media circles can make a difference. Aside from monitoring their posts, you may become friends with those inside their circles. This way, it can be easy to monitor their activity. Remember that your child may not like the idea and possibly protest, but they will come to terms with the reality if they know it’s the only way you will allow them to use the internet.
Keep tabs on your family’s digital footprint
Everything you post online adds to your digital footprint. However, this can be risky since you may have little control over who accesses the data once it is made public. Almost everything shared online is permanent. Even when it is deleted, somebody may have a copy. Just as you must be careful when sharing personal details online, you must ensure the same for your kids. You may employ various techniques to manage your family’s digital footprint. For instance, you can encourage them to avoid sharing everything on the internet and teach them to use privacy settings when visiting certain websites. Meanwhile, you can check some of the best VPN protocols to protect your personal information and keep everybody safe.
Always keep your kids in sight
Your kids will hesitate to access inappropriate websites and questionable content when the desktop is centrally located where somebody can walk in at any moment. You may occasionally check their browser history to know what they have been accessing online. However, checking their online history may not be foolproof, especially when they learn to delete their browser history. That is why it is best to communicate openly with your kid at a younger age.