There’s no limit to what you would do to keep your child safe. You taught them how to cross the road, not to run with scissors, and to hold onto stair railings. Now, they’re sailing off into the blue unknown of the internet on a daily basis, and they need the tools to navigate it safely.
This article is a practical guide to help you learn about the risks your child will be exposed to online so that you can best prepare and protect them. From creating an ‘online safety agreement’ to using software to stay safe, we’re here to guide you through this next phase of parenthood.
While an important part of parenting is letting your kids learn from making their own mistakes, this only works when these mistakes don’t have dire consequences. Running with untied laces is not on par with giving your home address to a random chatroom buddy. Some of the main risks you and your child will need to keep your eyes open for are:
Cyberbullying can take the form of aggressive, embarrassing, or humiliating messages, pictures, or posts designed to spread rumors or make the person feel threatened. It can involve trolling, where the bully continuously baits the person with provocative comments and posts. Cyberbullying is extremely serious and has been connected to suicidal thoughts and acts in teenagers.
Don’t forget to remind your child that they should never write something online that they wouldn’t feel comfortable saying in real life or hearing themselves. You wouldn’t want them getting caught up in a discussion that pushes them to say naive and unpleasant things.
There are approximately 50,000 online predators active each day, affecting kids of all ages. However, it’s adolescents aged 12-15, in particular, who are more often lured into traps by sexual predators. Another issue is children getting pushed into providing explicit and exploitative images or videos, making them vulnerable to blackmail in sextortion scams.
Some online predators will be after information that your child may unwittingly provide. From forgetting to tighten up their privacy settings or sharing their address on social media, these mistakes can result in identity fraud, being robbed, or worse.
Your child may stumble across adult content that may be sexual or violent. This could be through browsing, games, apps, or inappropriate in-app ads.
While screen addiction may seem like one of the least serious risks, it can lead to isolation, depression, social-emotional development issues, and anxiety, as well as encourage aggressive behavior. Parental control software is a handy way to set some limitations on screen use, meaning you don’t need to watch your child like a hawk.
While it’s easy to accompany your seven-year-old on their digital journey, the situation shifts when your offspring hits adolescence.
It’s extremely important to encourage regular, open, and honest discussions about how your child uses the internet and what lurks out there. Remind them they can rely on you for judgment-free help in any situation, as they may worry that they’ll lose access to devices or the internet if they get in trouble.
To help them open up, try starting the discussion with some questions:
While they may moan and groan about it, establishing fixed screen times (eg. after homework) and time limits will avoid a daily battle. At some point, your child will need to become responsible for ensuring this healthy balance between digital and offline activities.
Together, you can add any new websites and apps to an ‘acceptable and appropriate’ list, and you may want to check out these sites yourself.
The most serious and unbreakable rule needs to be that no information is shared with strangers. Ever. You could even consider printing out a list of information that should never be given out to act as a reminder for younger children.
While these guidelines are intended to establish a trusting relationship between you and your child, it may be worth creating an ‘online safety agreement’ that includes the consequences of violating these guidelines. Let your child have a voice in what they consider a fair punishment, and then be consistent and follow through if the rules are broken.
For anyone wanting to browse safely online, using the safety net of a VPN is a good start. On top of this, you should go through all privacy settings on devices and accounts, including any accessed at the houses of grandparents or other people responsible for your child.
Thankfully, there are also parental control tools that can help monitor and manage screen time, content, and device usage so you don’t have to watch over your child’s shoulder. These apps can automatically track what your child has been doing online and switch off access as soon as the agreed time has ended (after warning them). Filters will mean that only age-appropriate sites, apps, and videos can be accessed, and downloads can be either blocked completely or enabled with your authorization only.
Wi-Fi controls can also be used to limit access to certain sites in your home. Secure browsers and kid-friendly search engines are great at blocking harmful content – handing the reins to you but letting your child feel free while browsing.
Children need to know that it’s dangerous for any personal information to get into the wrong hands, so remind your child they shouldn’t share their full name or birthdate with people they don’t know in real life.
Strong passwords are the key to keeping all the family’s devices and networks secure. Suggest your child create one based on some significant toy or memory and combine it with a memorable number (not a birthday). Each account needs a new password, but you can avoid this headache by using a password manager. This type of software can keep the whole family safe and secure online.
Outdated software can leave your family’s devices vulnerable to hackers and malware. To keep your child’s browsing experience free of risks, update your software to close any security gaps and consider enabling automatic updates. Your operating system and antivirus software should also be updated to include any crucial security patches.
Plus, don’t forget about the Wi-Fi. Change the default settings of your router with some unique and secure credentials. And while you’re at it, ensure you’re currently using the most recent and strongest encryption protocols.
Unfortunately, even after having followed all these steps, you won’t be able to rest on your laurels. The digital world is changing as fast as your child is growing out of trainers, and you need to stay informed.
If you keep your devices secure and stay alert to online trends and threats, apps, and more, then you’ll be able to lead by example. Sharing new issues you discover will reopen the discussion about online browsing, gaming, and messaging – a dialogue that needs to stay open and unjudgmental until your child reaches an age where they’re autonomous.
Technology is an extremely rewarding tool and toy, and with the right guidance, kids of all ages can safely enjoy it.
Share your thoughts, ask questions, and connect with other users. Your feedback helps our community make better decisions.
©2012-2025 Best Reviews, a clovio brand –
All rights
reserved
