What can parents do to protect children online?

Dr Valeria Risoli, clinical psychologist at Dubai Physiotherapy and Family Medicine Clinic, advises parents to adopt the following methods:

Be involved in your child’s life

Identify your children’s feelings, promote social abilities and positive relationships, and prevent them from getting into contact with material and people that could be psychologically damaging for them.

Five-point parenting

The five key approaches are prevention, preparation, explanation, supervision, hands-on approach, and complete awareness. These can help children respond to risks with more maturity.

Set boundaries and rules

Let your children know the boundaries of using social media. Being more aware of the possible disciplinary consequences could help as well in terms of prevention of certain dangerous behaviours.

Help them overcome insecurity

Children with low self-esteem and social insecurity are more likely to be influenced by others and follow dangerous trends in search of social recognition and acceptance.

Don’t restrict access

Restricting internet access is not a solution. Both at school and home, children should be educated about the dangers of the internet, and the risk and damage that certain activities can cause to their mental and physical well-being.