The daily expansion of technology is pushing people online at younger and younger ages. Cyberspace is the place for educational purposes, entertainment offerings, and for communicating with family and friends.
But not every online landing page is a safe space for all family members to access on the internet.
Parents need to establish internet safety rules to help their kids form healthy habits on the world wide web that they can benefit from once they enter into adulthood.
Cybersafety involves having an awareness of the dangers of the internet, reducing risks associated with online usage, and keeping the user and the device that they are using safe while surfing the web.
Just because the internet may be a digital realm doesn’t mean it can’t create very real physical and emotional problems offline. Visit the main internet statistics to learn more.
Protect your family and their well-being from internet dangers with these valuable tips.
1. Dangers of the internet and social media
Malicious content comes in many forms on the internet. Digital danger can emerge in a multitude of menacing ways, such as identity theft, scams, bullying, pornography, viruses, predators, and acts of violence.
In order to practice cyber safety when using social media, give yourself a head start by being aware of the common problems, like anxiety, bad time management, depression, isolation, low self-esteem, and sleep deprivation.
2. How to block inappropriate content
Block content that is inappropriate for children with parental control software and by setting up parental controls on all of the devices that your children use on a regular basis.
Restrict access to distinctive apps that your kids may frequent and control the amount of time that your kids spend on these devices.
If your child will be using devices at their friend’s home when you are not around, communicate with the adult that will be responsible at that location to know which cyber safety standards they will be implementing.
Block inappropriate images on the Google search engine by turning on the SafeSearch feature to prevent explicit videos, websites, and images from popping up in the search results.
3. How to protect your child from cyberbullying
The longer that children are online, the more likely they will be to experience some form of cyberbullying on social media platforms, apps, or websites where user communication occurs.
What are some ways to curb cyberbullying or empower your kids to be able to cope with this form of online torment if these situations ever take place?
Make sure that your young ones understand exactly what cyberbullying is so that they can have the ability to articulate what has happened to them when they seek help. Knowing what cyberbullying is and that it exists can also keep them aware of it before it even occurs.
Are you aware of which apps your child is using, and do you have access to these accounts?
Instead of responding directly to the bully and potentially making the situation even worse, block and or report bullies who threaten your loved ones or even you, for that matter.
4. Privacy and passwords
Staying on top of the privacy settings for all of your digital devices and online accounts is a key factor in protecting your family from internet dangers.
Keep personal information such as your date of birth, street address, phone number, social security number, credit card numbers, and even license plate numbers private.
As a parent, make sure that you are making it as difficult for child predators as possible by keeping your kids’ full names and email addresses off of the internet.
Use complex and different passwords for your various accounts instead of making them all the same or easy to guess.
5. The dangerous ‘don’ts’ for online behavior
Don’t conversate with strangers online and share personal information about yourself.
Don’t visit any suspicious websites used to bring you in using click bait titles, and definitely don’t download anything from them.
Don’t click on pop-up windows that appear suddenly. They can be prevented by installing a pop-up blocker on your browser.
Don’t spend all day online. Put limitations on how much time your children are allowed to engage with their screened devices.
Don’t post pictures on any social media profiles of yourself in public places that can make it easy for a sketchy stalker to locate you in real-time.
By establishing protective measures into place beforehand and making use of equipment such as a gryphon router, you can draw clear lines between your loved ones and dangerous situations online.