November 21, 2022
November 21, 2022
The internet is an invaluable tool that can enrich your child’s life and provide them with incredible learning opportunities. But the internet also contains a multitude of hidden dangers. Today, we will discuss 7 tips to ensure online security for your children.
Using the internet involves inherent risk. Especially for naive and inexperienced children and teenagers. But the value of utilizing the internet for education and learning means that your child will benefit greatly from being online. This means that as parents we need to know how to mitigate the dangers to our children of being online.
We want our children to enjoy the benefits of the internet without falling prey to its dangers. We want our children to use the internet in a healthy and safe way. We can keep our children safe online by following some useful tips that will ensure their online security.
Kids in 2022 cannot avoid the internet. Nor do they want to! Children love being online. For better or worse, our kids now socialize, play, and learn, in large part, on the internet. But kids (although they strongly believe otherwise!) are inexperienced and naive and therefore vulnerable. So it is our job as parents to ensure their safety as best we can.
The main benefit children get from being online is that it greatly enhances their opportunities for education. Children have a universe of information at their fingertips when they use the internet. It is crucial that our children are able to safely and securely avail of the internet’s endless value as a learning tool.
Unfortunately, the list of dangers present for children while using the internet is long. Children and teenagers are vulnerable to all of the following dangers while they are online:
The most effective way to keep your child safe and secure while they use the internet is to educate them. If you can communicate effectively with your child and help them to understand the dangers of being online they will stand a much better chance of staying safe. To effectively teach your child about internet safety you should:
Here are 7 tips to ensure online security for your children.
The more secretive your child’s online life is, the more at risk they are. Encourage your child to be open with you about their online activities. Do this by communicating authentically with your child and being a good (understanding, non-judgemental, and empathetic) listener.
Knowledge is power. Always be sure your child understands, to the best of their ability, the dangers they face online. Educate your child about the following risks they face while using the internet and how best to avoid them:
If your child is on the younger side you should share devices with them. This way you can keep a close eye on what they are doing online and what content they are accessing. This can be difficult to implement with older children in a world where every teenager has a smartphone.
There are several excellent applications available that will block chosen websites across several devices. Cold Turkey is a very effective app that does this job. You should use an app like this to block unsuitable websites on your child’s device. Apps also allow you to block internet access altogether for periods of time. This can also be a great way to force your child to learn to enjoy themselves in ways that do not involve being online.
Cybercriminals can use malware to infiltrate a device and lock it or lock certain files until the user pays a ransom. This can be prepared for and mitigated by making sure your child backs up their device regularly, either to the cloud or to an external harddrive.
The most up-to-date operating systems are the best at protecting against threats such as malware and bugs. So it is important for your child’s online security to make sure their device has the most up-to-date software installed.
Children should not use the same password for all of their accounts. This can lead to their accounts and personal information being accessed by bad actors. Protect your child by teaching them how to generate secure passwords using a password manager.
Featured image by OleksandrPidvalnyi on Pixabay