The explosion in the use of smartphones, tablets, ipads, the
ease of touchscreen technology and the thousands of freely available apps means
that today’s parents need more time than ever in protecting their children.
It’s never been more important to make sure you are
helping to keep your child safe in the digital world. Don’t let that smartphone
be smarter than you and your kids.
As a parent, it is your responsibility to control and help
your children understand the dangers of using the Internet. Sexting and cyberbullying is now common amongst school kids.
Though a lot of schools disallow
the use of Internet accessing devices and phones, many school kids still have
access to these phones either at home or from other siblings. And many parents
also give phones to their kids to stay in touch in their children when they are
at work or engaged.
It is also true that though many social networking sites have minimum age
requirements for signing up, over half
of primary school children aged 7 - 11 have profiles on social networking sites including
facebook, google+, etc. And some parents even open the account in these sites
for their kids.
If your child is using these networking sites and
respective apps, get up to speed on how they can manage their privacy settings and
protect or control what they can see or respond to.
To do this, check the “how to
guides” on the sites; make sure your kids know the rules, and create your own
rules to guide them.
These should include:
- Don’t share personal information like their phone number or email address online
- Only talk to real life friends or family if they are on sites with a social media element
- Talk about online grooming and explain that people they meet online might not be who they say they are
- Tell them to be a good online friend and not to say nasty things even if it’s just a joke
- Use secure and legal sites to download music and games
- Make sure they check with you before downloading any programs to avoid viruses
You can also tap into
your kids mind to ascertain what they have been up to online. This will help
you become familiar with regular conversations they pickup online. You can do
by:
- Start a conversation when your children will be more receptive and engaged, such as on the way from or to school
- Ask them for advice on how to do something online and use this as a conversation starter
- Make sure they know they can come to you if they’re upset by something they’ve seen online
- Be sensitive and encourage them when they share their online experiences with you
- If your child talks about an issue with you, stay calm and listen without judging them
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