Keeping your kids safe in cyberspace

THE Internet is a vast source of information – some good and some bad. If your children learn to use it wisely, they can be safe while using the internet for all the resources it has to offer. Like an infinite library, the web can take you to the ends of the earth with the information it contains.

The concerns

Parents need to be vigilant about the dangers this access poses for their children. Because kids today are often much more savvy about these new communication techniques than their parents, their knowledge and habits can be intimidating.

However, in order to keep our children safe, we need to protect them, set limits and impose rules and consequences. Although teens often may know more about technology, they do not always have the judgement to make wise decisions with the new communication devices now at their disposal.

Although there’s no way to know the actual risk, the experts caution that kids whose internet activity isn’t monitored are most at risk for being exploited.

Internet safety tips

Help your child get the most out of these new technologies while still keeping them safe. Here are some safety tips.

1. Monitor usage

• Become computer literate. Have your children show you what they are doing online, spend some time learning the ins and outs of the programs.

• Keep the computer in a common area where you can monitor your kids.

• Share an email account with younger children. That way, you can monitor who is sending them messages.

• Bookmark your child’s favourite sites. Your child will have easy access and be less likely to make a typo that could lead to inappropriate content.

• Spend time online together. Teach your kids appropriate online behaviour, including information about cyber bullying.

• Monitor your child’s use of social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and more. Be aware of what information is being revealed.

• Find out about online protection elsewhere. Find out what, if any, online protection is offered at school, after-school centres, friends’ homes, or any place where kids could use a computer without your supervision.

• Consider installing parental control filtering software and/or tracking programs, which can also help you protect your children from online predators and inappropriate adult content. But don’t rely only on these tools. Kids benefit most from direct conversations with their parents.

2.Have open lines of communication

• Talk regularly with your children about internet use, the online activities they are involved with and the sites they visit. Be direct, straightforward and assertive, but not aggressive or confrontational.

• Let your children know about your concerns.

• Talk about the dangers of interacting with strangers online and remind them that people online often don’t tell the truth.

• Encourage your children to tell you if anyone they meet online tries to get personal information from them

3. Set limits

• Periodically check their internet activity to help assure their safety.

• Communicate clearly what the family rules regarding internet use.

• Limit the amount of screen time that you child is allowed.

• Warn your child to never trade personal photographs, agree to meet a stranger or respond to a threatening email or message.

4. Warning Signs

Warning signs of a child being targeted by an online predator include:

• Spending long hours online, especially at night.

• Receiving phone calls from strangers.

• Unsolicited gifts arriving in the mail.

• If your child suddenly turns off the computer when you walk into the room, ask why and monitor computer time more closely.