Kids Online: Teaching Them Right and Wrong in a Grey World

It can be a jungle and a nightmare out there in the Internet world, and our children are being targeted and targeting more and more frequently as technology becomes easier by the minute. Dosomething.org, an organization for teens and social change, reports that 43 percent of kids have been bullied online, and identity theft protection company LifeLock.com states youth as the fastest growing demographic for credit and identity fraud.

The World Wide Web can be as wonderful as it is horrible for children and parents. After all, never in the history of the world have we had access to a world of information at the click of a button. In order to keep the Internet a safe and useful place for our children, it is up to us to educate them, communicate with them, and hold them accountable for the time they spend online.

Learn the Facts

You can’t tell your kids what to do if you don’t know what you’re talking about. That’s why it’s important to spend time perusing resources like dosomething.org and stopcyberbullyingnow.org, which both offer comprehensive tool kits including causes, recourse and coping mechanisms for various types of bully. Sites like NPR.org offer tips for parents looking to ensure their child’s identity hasn’t been compromised, and how to watch for signs. Remember, you too have the world’s largest library of information at your fingertips, so take advantage of it!

Ask, Ask Ask

Even if your kid is at that awkward adolescent stage where he or she gets embarrassed and enraged when even if you ask a simple question like what he or she wants for breakfast, it’s important to keep the questions coming without sounding like an interrogator. The more you engage your kin, the closer they feel to you (despite protestations and eye-rolls), and the easier it will be for you to tell if something is amiss with them.

Keep an Eye Out

Knowledge Networks conducted a study that revealed only 41 percent of parents monitor their teens’ browsing history, while about the same percentage of teens habitually clears theirs. Only 27 percent of parents actually use monitoring software, according to the study. Monitoring your son or daughter’s online whereabouts can seem like an impossible game of cat and mouse, but kids who know that they are being held accountable tend to set higher standards for themselves.

Set Limits

“Practice your piano for at least a half hour before you can play outside,” or some derivation of this, is a common theme from most of our childhoods, and it still rings true today.  Kids need clear limits on how they spend their time online, and firm “stranger danger” rules set in place. If they are left alone to surf the net by themselves for hours, there’s no telling where they could end up.

Be a Role Model

Of course, if you expect your children to have a safe and fulfilling experience online, you must also be able to monitor your own Internet activities. Parents can just as easily get caught up in gossip and “prince charmings” that really just want access to your Social Security number. It’s up to you to set the stage for how your family uses the vast digital resources at their fingertips.

Author bio:

 Maggie Soren

Maggie is a certified doula and super mom. Always on the move, she shares her tips with other busy stay-at-home moms.