Kids have been surfing the web since it first became available, but their time spent online has increased significantly with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and remote/hybrid learning environments. It’s important for parents and caregivers to stay involved in their child’s internet usage and to arm them with the skills they need to stay safe online.
First, have conversations with your child about general internet safety: using secure passwords, spotting red flags, your expectations for what they are and are not allowed to be doing online. Starting with outlining clear expectations is helpful because, just like a set of “house rules,” it gives your child parameters in which to make independent decisions safely.
Arguably, the most important thing you can do to protect your child online is to supervise their usage of the internet. This is especially important for young children who are just beginning to explore all the world wide web has to offer. This supervision should be regular at first. As your child ages, you can provide less oversight, but be sure to periodically check on their online profiles and posts to ensure everything is a-okay.
You’ll also want to take advantage of any privacy settings or parental controls that are available for gaming sites, social media profiles, and other electronic devices. In this vein, it’s smart to review and familiarize yourself with any games or apps that your child frequently uses or wants to download.
If you’re being proactive and doing the aforementioned things, it will help in the overall effort to keep your child safe online.
For additional information and resources, Justice.gov, the United States Department of Justice’s website, has a full list of tips for keeping your child safe online.
- Discuss Internet safety and develop an online safety plan with children before they engage in online activity. Establish clear guidelines, teach children to spot red flags, and encourage children to have open communication with you.
- Supervise young children’s use of the internet, including periodically checking their profiles and posts. Keep electronic devices in open, common areas of the home and consider setting time limits for their use.
- Review games, apps, and social media sites before they are downloaded or used by children. Pay particular attention to apps and sites that feature end-to-end encryption, direct messaging, video chats, file uploads, and user anonymity, which are frequently relied upon by online child predators.
- Adjust privacy settings and use parental controls for online games, apps, social medial sites, and electronic devices.
- Tell children to avoid sharing personal information, photos, and videos online in public forums or with people they do not know in real life. Explain to your children that images posted online live forever.
- Teach children about body safety and boundaries, including the importance of saying ‘no’ to inappropriate requests both in the physical world and the virtual world.
- Be alert to potential signs of abuse, including changes in children’s use of electronic devices, attempts to conceal online activity, withdrawn behavior, angry outbursts, anxiety, and depression.
- Encourage children to tell a parent, guardian, or other trusted adult if anyone asks them to engage in sexual activity or other inappropriate behavior.
- Immediately report suspected online enticement or sexual exploitation of a child by calling 911, contacting the FBI at fbi.gov, or filing a report with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) at 800.843.5678 or report.cybertip.org.
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