It’s impossible to keep the kids off the internet any more, thanks to COVID-19. Kids are spending more time online than usual because of online school and virtual playdates. However, the internet is not a safe space for children. Keeping your kids safe online doesn’t have to be a challenge. There are several options available in today’s time to protect your kids online, including protection software, apps, and parental controls.
Cyberbullying, harassment, and invasion of privacy are all threats to kids’ safety online, and their internet safety depends on how aware the parents are of online risks. Almost every kid has access to the internet in this day and age because every kid hasof easy access to either one of these – a smartphones, tablets, orand PC. The most important step you must take to ensure the safety of your kids online is teaching them about online risks and how to avoid and report threats.
However, as a parent, you should play an active role in protecting your kids and keeping them safe from online threats regardless. While you can start by investing in a safe and secure internet plan from Hargray communications, here’s more about what you can do:
Protect Your Children Online With These Tips
Protect your kids from bullies, inappropriate content, sexual predators, and frauds with these tips:
- Teach them how to use the internet
Strike a conversation with your child about their online activities – what they’re watching, what they’re reading, who they’re talking to etc., and make sure to keep doing it as they grow older. Inquire about the sites your child visits or the apps they use and take a quick look at them to understand. Discuss online safety and reputation with your kid and reach an agreement about what works for both of you. So the chances of them hiding or lying about their online activities are slim when they can be honest with you.
- Place the desktop in a central or common area of the house
If you have younger children especially, you must monitor their online activities strictly. When you have the computer placed in a common area, you can easily keep an eye on what your kid is doing online. You can come to an agreement with your child about having no phones, laptops, or tablets in the bedroom. You can further monitor their internet usage by checking browser histories and seeing what sites they visit.
- Understand parental controls
Learn how to use parental controls, so your kids don’t end up with inappropriate searches. Internet service providers, devices, and web browsers offer search restrictions and parental controls to prevent kids from accessing inappropriate, sexual, and violent content. Google allows you to use the SafeSearch Filters on the browser to block sites you don’t want your child to access.
- Limit screen time
To ensure your child doesn’t develop an unhealthy addiction to the internet or any unhealthy habits, keep track of how much time they spent online every day. Monitor their online time and reach an agreement on a particular time period they can use the internet for every day. You can even set a timer to go off when the time’s up. One other way to ensure a ‘time-out’ from the internet is by switching off the Wi-Fi every night before bedtime.
- Teach your child to turn off the location
Your devices, apps, and networks now come with geo-tagging features that trace your whereabouts and lead anyone to you directly. For safety and privacy reasons, geo-location and geo-tagging features should be turned off. Teach your children how to turn them off and remind them of the importance of privacy and the info they’re sharing online.
To Wrap It Up
The internet is a risky place to be and protectingkeeping your child safe from cyberbullying, harassment, and predators online is more thanof utmost importantce. Invest in a safe and secure internet connection like Mediacom offers, and practice these 5 tips for extra protection!
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