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Keep Your Children Safe Online

When was the last time you spoke to your child about the dangers of the Internet? Was it this week? This month? Have you done this at all? Recent studies show that lesson half of parents and guardians talk to the kids about online safety.

Here is the issue not talking to the child about online risk will not make the dangers go away. So please spend the time to sit down and talk to your child. Because trust me, there is a lot of bad stuff out there, your kids will find it if they search for it either accidentally or on purpose.

If you don’t talk to your kids, someone else will.

What are our kids doing online?

Kids are not listening to the signs that are out there and are talking to strangers, playing games with people they have no idea who they are and more importantly sharing private and personal information. How would you like for information to be shared to people you have no idea who they are? Your child to be sharing where you live, they could be sharing email addresses or even bank details putting both themselves and your family at risk.

Do spend the time to sit with your child and explain to them dangers of the Internet and how their information is important if it gets out what damages that could cause and the impact on them!

Here’s what else kids are doing online

• 29% are using the internet in ways their parents won’t approve
• 21% visit sites where they can chat with strangers
• 17% are visiting sites with sexual photos or adult videos
• 11% are visiting sites with instructions for cheating on schoolwork
• 4% are visiting gambling sites (little Timmy can count cards??)

Source: https://iamcybersafe.org/parent-research/

Rewind time remember when you were a child, what dangers were you getting into? Was it that you were allowed to walk down the street on your own and your parents told you not to speak to any day strangers? Well, the online world is different strangers are everywhere and as they say stranger danger. Our kids are playing in more online gaming than ever.

Kids are playing games such as Fortnite. This is just one example of a major game that most people has heard of, it’s a multiplayer game where you can play with your friends or strangers online. Now has a legal guardian to my brother I understand the importance of allowing him to play the sort of games it allows him to climb the ladder of the school ranking allowing him to create new friends in school, But also I need to understand the rest that the game has.

The game allows him to play with strangers people he has never met, the game automatically allows him to chat with people in-game to discuss tactics on how to win the game.

How are kids getting online?

According to the study (from https://iamcybersafe.org/s/ ) 70% of kids have a cell phone who are aged between eight and 13, 64% have a tablet and 48% of them have a computer in the bedroom. So the children that we are trying to keep safe have more opportunities to get online without adult supervision!

So how do you keep your kids safe online? Here at 10 top tips for doing so;

1. Have a conversation with your kids — Kids are getting their first internet-connected gadgets at pretty young ages. So start talking to them early. Warn them about the dangers of the internet and sex offenders. Let your kids know you’re looking out for them, speak honestly with them, and listen. After all, if it’s just you talking, it’s not a conversation. It’s a lecture. And no one likes a lecture.
2. Keep your computer in a shared area of the house — It’s makes it more difficult for your child to encounter issues online such as sex offenders and online bullies to harass your child when you can see what your child is up to. So make sure your kids aren’t going to bed with their laptops and phones. Good practice for this is when they get a new device they can charge it in the hallways.
3. Know how your child accesses the internet — Your children most likely have access to the internet through many devices, such as iPads, iPhones, games console, TVs and computers. So know what devices in your home you get online with, and know-how to enable child safety on them.
4. Remind your children, “Don’t talk to strangers — or meet them” — Make it clear that online strangers are not friends. Remind your children that people often lie about their age, and online predators often pretend to be children. Emphasize that your children should never reveal personal information like their name, address, phone number, school name, or even their friends’ names. Knowing any of this could help an online predator find your kid in real life. And under no circumstances should your child ever meet up with someone they met online without your permission. If you do agree to a meeting, go with your child and meet in a public place. Another good practice is to create an online persona with your child, so their online username contains nothing personal, such as first and last names.
5. Make online time family time — you watch movies together. Why not browse the web together? Or play games together? Making it a family event can be fun. You’ll learn more about your kids’ interests and can guide them to websites that are more appropriate to their age. Also playing games with them will allow you to hear how people of your kid’s age talk.
6. Know your children’s passwords — If you’ve got a younger kid, create an account for them in your name to avoid exposing your kid’s name — and so you’ll have the password. But please respect the age limitations on accounts. If a site says you should be 18 to sign up, then maybe your child should wait. Whatever your choice, though, make sure you get their passwords and warn them that you’ll be checking their accounts from time to time to make sure everything’s kosher. (Spying on your kids’ accounts without their knowledge could weaken their trust in you.) The best tip for this is to use a password manager and set up unique passwords for every account you sign up.
7. Watch for changes in your children’s behaviour — Being secretive about what they do online, withdrawing from the family, and other personality changes could be signs that things are not going well, this could be down to online bullying? Or even the fact that they are the ones doing the bullying?
8. Pay attention to any gifts anyone gives your children — Sexual predators may send physical letters, photos, or gifts to children to seduce them. But also most online games now have online currency, so if your child has suddenly brought news skins or has loads of virtual money it’s important to find out how they got this! Stay alert, and ask your kids about any new toys they bring home.
9. Check your children’s browsing history — Open your child’s web browser and look for “History” to see a list of websites they’ve been to. Also, check the recycle bin to see if any files have been deleted. You may be surprised. But again be very open and honest about this to them, show them you trust them but make sure you are doing this to keep them safe.
10. Set rules — and stick to them — As a parent or guardian, it’s your job to limit your kids’ screen time, set boundaries for inappropriate content, and make sure your children stick to them. So do it. (In the coming weeks and months I will be sharing tutorials on how to block content and childproof your kid’s tech)

Think your child is being preyed upon? Report it

If you suspect your child is being preyed upon, call the police immediately. And don’t touch your computer — there may be important evidence on it that can help catch the criminal. Above all, don’t take matters into your own hands. Some cases they will send files across to your child’s device which can then track what they see on the desktop, so the moment you start searching through files it might raise alarm bells with them and before long they have remotely wiped the device.

About the author:
Christopher Gammon is a foster carer to a 13-year-old boy, so when it comes to trying to keep kids safe online he knows first hand on how difficult it can be. With many different devices to manage and monitor he has got his head around them all and want to share all this with you!
Chris has spent the last 20 years making websites and making money online and now currently he is learning to become an IT Network Engineer so all things computers and internet are things he is passionate about.

References:
https://iamcybersafe.org/s/