Ensuring Your Kids Safety Online

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With technology becoming more and more of a staple in everyday life, the age that children are introduced to it seems to get younger and younger. While this can be an amazing resource for learning it can also be a dangerous place. There are so many devices out there that have access to the internet that it’s going to be hard for any concerned parent to keep tabs on all of them. So before we get started on the tips for keeping your child safe I’d like to encourage anyone to consider this before buying their child a smartphone or tablet or any other mobile device to make sure that your child is capable of using the internet in a safe way.

Keep the computer in a high traffic area

While there is no specific order to this list, this is one of the easiest ways to keep tabs on what your child is doing on the internet. Not allowing them to have a computer in their rooms or in a private area encourages them to make better choices in what they use the computer for. Knowing that you or your spouse is just a quick glance away from the screen will deter them from doing things they shouldn’t while they’re online.
Get to know what they like

Being involved in your child’s online experience is not only a great way to keep them safe but it’s also a wonderful way to spend time with your children. All it takes is a simple question, “What’s your favorite thing to do online?” that can lead to finding out things you may have not known about your child.

This is also a great way to gauge how much they already know about computers and the internet. This will be helpful when you have a conversation with them about cyber safety. No one likes to be lectured about things they are already very familiar with, children are no exception.

Teach them safe password strategies

A password is only as strong as the person that makes it. It’s important for your child to understand that they have to closely guard their passwords and not share them with friends. A good way to explain this is that a password is like a security system for their internet profile. It’s great when it’s properly armed and in order to make sure it stays that way you can’t share the code with anyone.

While most sites require complex passwords it’s still a good idea to explain why it’s important to have a few numbers or special symbols in your password because it makes them harder to guess and crack.

Limit usage

This is probably the easiest one to do. You can set time limits on how long your child can be online or use the computer. If they have trouble following it, there is often easy ways to set your internet router to only allow access at certain times of the day. Not only with this encourage your child to do other things besides sit around on the computer all day it will also teach them valuable time management skills that they will use for the rest of their life.