Online Safety for Kids

The internet can offer an extraordinary new world of opportunities, especially for children. It provides incalculable benefits, such as entertainment and possibilities to learn and socialize. However, the cyberspace can be very dangerous for kids, offering threats that range from cyberbullying and inappropriate content, to phishing scams or even online predators. Furthermore, protecting the mental and physical integrity of kids when navigating the web is crucial and it is not an impossible task. In fact, it becomes simple if the parents follow a few basic steps.

Thank you Anna Blake for contributing this guest post.

Parental Control Software and Tools

The development of new technologies, such as specific tools and programs that are currently available in the market, opened new possibilities to limit the access of children to some content. Software like Net Nany are powerful tools that imposes time and content restriction, pausing or even limiting Wi-Fi in certain situations. Moreover, the majority of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) work with parental control options, allowing the customer to forbid or restrict the access of underage users to a list of web pages.

Fundamental Guidelines for Parental Supervision

Spending time with the kids is one of the simplest and yet efficient actions to get to know their online behavior. Furthermore, the location of the computer is important, it should always stay in an open access area, like the living room, that way you can always monitor what your kids are doing. Check the history of the PC browser regularly, as well as mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets. Learn about the online security programs offered by your child’s school and any other places they attend with open internet access.

Internet Safety Laws

When surfing the web, young kids are exposed to countless websites that collect personal information. For this reason, a federal law was designed to ensure that underage users won’t provide more than enough information to play a game or use a specific service online. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) intent to preserve the personal data of children under the age of 13. The law created in 1998 encourages websites, in particular social media, to disallow minors from registering accounts.

Communication is the key

There are plenty of resources available out there to ensure that kids are safe online. However, even though installing a software that blocks malicious and suspicious pages is practically effortless, the most efficient way to prevent trouble is to talk to your kids. A clear conversation about what is the appropriate attitude might be the right solution for a variety of problems, including answers for questions that will certainly appear in the future.

Teach them about the risks of revealing private details, such as the name and location of school, phone number or residential address. In addition, explain the importance of not sending pictures or using the webcam with people they meet online. Although it might seem obvious, children do not know how vulnerable they are in the web. Therefore, point out the dangers of online friendships, and how never, ever or under no circumstances should they agree on meeting a stranger in person.

Talk to your child about internet safety

Educate your kids about the consequences of their actions on the web, regardless of a responsible attitude, the virtual environmental can be unstable. Additionally, be a positive example by being open minded, showing them what the adequate behavior is, what type of content to post and what to avoid doing. Another important action is to establish a confident relationship with your son or daughter, let them know that they can always ask for help if they feel uncomfortable about any situation.

We all know that it is not always simple to make the kids understand our point of view. However, there are quite a few ways to instruct them when it comes to online safety. Movies, music and books are wonderful instruments to help you guide your child towards the right attitude. Internet Kids – Road Trip is an excellent eBook to have as a reference during the process of educating a child. The involving story about a family road trip will show the reader what kids can do to be safe on the internet. Additionally, the eBook includes is a list of online safety tips at the end, which certainly will be very useful for the kids.

About Anna Blake

Anna is a stay at home mom, wife and owner of very demanding cat, from sunny Chatsworth, California. When she is not busy chasing her 2 year old around, you can find her trying out new salad recipes or re-watching favorite chick-flick movies.

Together with her hubby they educate kids and adults about internet safety through their website and recently created an educational children’s book Internet Kids – Road Trip.