7 WAYS TO KEEP YOUR KIDS CYBER-SAFE

1 The best protection comes from your relationship with your child. Being in a close, friendly relationship puts you in the ideal position to monitor and protect your child. 2 The best internet filters are the ones in your child’s head. Software and gadgets can make it harder for your children to get into mischief, but self-control and character are the best filters. How do your children get them? See point one. 3 Understand immature impulse control. Yes, you are close to your child; yes, your child has great character and good values ... but any child can trip up, especially with peer pressure and hormones added to the mix. Hope for the best, but stay vigilant and even check for a bit of sneakiness. 4 Maintain authority. If they are so young the law won’t let them drive and the bank won’t give them a loan, then they’re too young to have unrestricted, unsupervised access to technology. 5 If the problem is bullying, sexting, porn or whatever, the problem is not with the phone, the app or the internet. Text bullying is about bullying. Sexting is about sex. Put on your parent hat, not just your cyber-tech hat. 6 Negotiate agreements about technology use. How long? Who pays? What is acceptable and what is not? The real value is not the signed bit of paper you end up with, but the discussion you have. You can download a digi-family contract at theparentingplace.com/ family-contracts. 7 Lead by example. Ouch. That’s the toughest bit of being a parent. Research indicates the number of hours children stare at screens is similar to their parents. As we demonstrate good cyber habits, we have a better chance of seeing them in our children.