Tips for keeping children safe online

[harlan4096]

They’re more withdrawn and quieter than usual. Come to think of it, they’ve been on their phone for a while now, but they finished their homework hours ago.

“What you doing over there?”

No answer.

You try again. “Sweetheart, what are you doing on the phone?”

“Nothing! Leave me alone!” your usually sweet child snaps back.

What’s happening? Did they see something they shouldn’t have? Is someone bullying them? You’re not sure what’s happening, but you know it probably has something to do with something on their device and the Internet. But how can you best get to the bottom of this and tackle this thorny issue?

The online world is full of education, information, and fun, and used correctly it can offer huge benefits to every child. The problem is, according to a recent survey from Kaspersky, parents are struggling with how best to keep their kids safe online, with 84% feeling worried about what their child may be exposed to when surfing the Net.

Globally, more than 9 in 10 children 7- to 12-years-old have an Internet-enabled device, smartphone, or tablet. It seems that while worried about the many threats to children online — from exposure to sexual and violent content to active grooming — parents still feel the need for their children to have online devices. Understandably, this exponential growth of technology in our modern lives has left parents feeling unsure how to balance the need to protect their children’s online experience with giving kids access to the Internet for basics like school work and socializing with friends.

I have two teenagers, and as they have grown up, it has become more and more important for me to educate myself about the risks and responsibilities of allowing my children time online — particularly as the Internet has evolved.

As a psychological practitioner, I am well aware of the harm that can befall children and young people when they are left to navigate the complex cyberworld without appropriate advice, guidance, and supervision. Among families, 60 percent say they’ve directly experienced or seen an online safety threat incident, with children seeing sexual or violent content and Internet addiction being the most common real-life experiences. Even scarier, 13% have experienced online grooming and 14% identity and information theft. All too often, we hear about unfortunate situations where young people have trusted online connections with personal and sensitive information only to discover that the “friend” was a predator in disguise.
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