Not so long ago, all parents had to do was provide for their kids, nurture them and protect them for harm which in this case often referred to injuries and kidnappers. Now, they also have to find ways to protect their tech-savvy kids on the internet.
In today’s world, children stand to benefit a lot from being in possession of digital skills and being exposed to modern technology early in life but that also comes with a few potential threats that must be dealt with if you are to create a safe environment for your kids.
Teach them about online security
As a responsible parent, you should teach your kids the basics of online security like how to compose a secure password and the importance of keeping their personal information private. Under no circumstances should they reveal their login credentials to anyone and their location to strangers.
Since they will need to do some internet search on their school work and hobbies like gaming and so on, teach them how to discern safe sites like Gameguideworld.Net from questionable ones. They should also download their apps only from the Google Play Store or the Apple iTunes to avoid potential harmful downloads.
Parental control
One of the major issues of children being on the internet is access to inappropriate content. Luckily, there are a number of parental controls you can put in place like installing a firewall to block harmful sites like pornography content.
Also, make sure all the devices your kids use to access the internet have update security software. This protects them from virus attacks and malware which may steal their personal data.
Keeping your kids safe requires more than installing tracking software in their devices. It is more important to create a conducive atmosphere at home where your kids feel free and comfortable to talk to your when they encounter anything unsettling on the internet like cyberbullying, and harassment. Talking with your kids is important than any apps you can ever install in their phones.
Personal privacy
As a parent, avoid posting pictures of your young babies on the internet and revealing crucial information about your kids like the schools they attend. Not everyone on your Facebook timeline has good intentions. You could be unwittingly exposing your child to kidnappers who can every bit of information they can ever need about your kids from your social media posts.
Also, teach your older kids on social media the limits within which they shouldn’t go beyond when revealing their personal information to strangers on social media.
Activate security features on their phones
This isn’t installing those apps that allow you to snoop on your kids’ messages and call logs. Most smartphones come with standard security feature that allow you to track the location of your phone should it get lost and also the ability to wipe data remotely if there is no chance of recovering the phone.
Activating all these features could stop your child’s personal information including photos from getting into the hands of wrong people.
