The internet and its escorting technologies bring efficient and new ways of communication. Many Internet users are Children and teenagers; thus, improving Internet safety is mandatory. Online harassment, such as Cyberbullying, is prevalent, and making children protected is necessary nowadays. Parents usually expose their children to the internet at the very young ages of two, three, and four as they sit on their lap. In addition, sometimes they make them watch the internet alone so the parents can do their work peacefully. There is a need to educate children about how to traverse the online world safely and morally due to the enhanced number of pre-teens who use the internet. Internet safety confines issues directly or indirectly linked to users’ psychological and physical well-being. Internet safety is also called digital safety, online safety, or e-safety, and this idea has an association with both the threats individuals may face online and the strategies they can use to protect themselves against those threats.
Tips for internet safety
Communicate
Communication is a powerful and valuable key and must happen between children and parents. Being a parent of your child, you must talk with your son or daughter to make them understand what is wrong or right. Just have a straightforward conversation, clear them about good and evil, ask them what they like or dislike, make them watch healthy stuff, and guide them to protect themselves from harmful or damaging online content. Teach them about maintaining online safety, advertisements, or Cybersecurity instead of just putting locks or passwords on apps to avoid talking.
Digital tools assistance
Many devices, digital platforms, or tools are set up for parental control and guidance. You, being a parent, need to discover and use such tools to get aid in maintaining fender for your children when they’re at risk and gradually reduce them over time as children grow more responsible. In all Android or Apple Macs, Windows PCs, Phones, and Amazon devices, there are built-in settings and family account structures are included. Such tools help let you distantly control or limit what apps your children can use, what they can see on the web, and for how long and when they can use their devices.
Social media privacy
It would be best to determine how your children use security and privacy settings in their social media apps to control access to their information and posts.
Social media apps also usually permit you to limit who you follow. Ask your children if they may already know how to restrict followers. This would be the best time to ask your children about the settings they are using to defend their privacy, and you can work with them to set up even more. You can ask them if everyone can see this or not. This will make them think about the innuendo of leaving settings unfastened. Try to secure their accounts and devices. Make them learn that everyone needs secure and strong passwords or biometric controls like facial or fingerprint recognition. Let them know how to keep devices and accounts safe from hackers, including PINs and multi-factor authentication.
Avoid bullying and being bullied
You need to talk with your children about being kind and acting with kindness online, see how your children handle anger, how they treat others, and how your children react when they see someone being mean to their children or others. Make them aware of how to deal with bullying and not to be a part of awful acts of bullying. There is so much information available on the internet that it’s crucial to assist your children in understanding the authenticity of the information they see, whether from friends, news sources, or strangers. Some people, companies, groups, and even governments intentionally share wrong information, which is hard to find, particularly for children and teens.
Go into a huddle
As a parent, you need to consider using regulation and monitoring tools occasionally, particularly as your children get older and think they are efficient in using technology. You must contact your children daily to have a steady perception of their technology usage, talk about variations in technology and dangers, and admonish your children and yourself about the need to be watchful when using connected technology. Being a parent, you need to make your children ready for adulthood, when they will make all of their decisions on their own
Conclusion
Internet safety has been a significant concern in recent years due to the tremendous increase in internet usage, especially among children and teenagers. Children are highly unaware of cyberbullying, online scams, and security threats. Parents need to stay in contact with their children all the time, and new technologies in phones, tablets, or laptops provide the tools or apps that enable you to control your children’s Internet usage. Make your children know and learn the safe use of the internet and apps, and tell them about security, ways to handle threats, and how to be kind on the internet.