We are living in this digital age where the internet is the primary source to access information at your fingertips. Even kids are involved in accessing the internet to find information these days. This is the reason why children should be aware of the potential dangers of the internet.
Nowadays, kids access to the internet to watch their favorite cartoons, play different games online, do research for school projects, interact with their peers and much more. It is the duty of parents to provide online safety to their children and teach them how they can react to online threats. If your kid browses the internet more often, then it’s time to have a one-to-one conversation about the potential dangers of the internet and how they can stay safe online.
1. Start the conversation
If you haven’t talked about internet safety with your child, make sure you do that before it’s too late! Talking about online safety with your child early is a great way to ensure safe browsing. When you have an open conversation with your child, they will be able to identify online threats on their own and take appropriate action, that too instantly.
It is important to encourage your kids that they can reach out to you if they are confused about a certain matter. Let them know that you are not going to scold or judge them. Also, you can tell them that they can share their online experiences with you.
2. Teach your kids about the importance of privacy protection
It is crucial to teach your kids the importance of privacy. Make sure you teach your kids never to share their passwords, school address, home address, contact numbers, names of the family members and the work details of parents with anyone. Tell them to come to you if someone asks for their personal details.
3. Never agree to meet online friends
Let your kids know it’s not okay to meet their online friends in person. Teach them that different people on the internet can impersonate someone else. So, it can be dangerous meeting the friends they have made online as they can turn out to be kidnappers or harassers. Your job as a parent doesn’t end there – you have to keep track of your kid’s online activities.
If you find your kid talking to strangers, then you can block certain apps for their protection. All you need to have is a reliable internet connection to block those apps. In case, you cannot provide online safety to your kids because of poor internet connectivity, then you need to explore buytvinternetphone.com in order to download blocking apps without any hassle.
4. Instruct your kids never to click on suspicious links online
Your kids must know that they don’t have to click on every suspicious pop-up, email attachment or ad. Tell them that clicking on these links can result in downloading viruses onto their devices. To keep your kid safe, it is also important to tell that they must not provide too many personal details for subscribing to certain E-newsletters.
5. Ask them to use a strong password
Tell your kids that having a strong password can be a great way to stop the hackers from encrypting your data. A password that has more than eight characters contains at least one numeric key; special characters are hard to crack, for your information. Also, instruct them to never disclose their passwords to anyone except for their parents.
6. Keep a track on what your kids are posting online
It is important to watch what your kids are posting online. If your kids are posting their pictures online, make sure that those pictures are appropriate. When you find something inappropriate, you can ask your kids to take it down. After that, make sure you tell your kid why you asked them to do so. Explaining your reasons is a great way to avoid any conflict with them.
7. Set a specific time limit
SafetyDetectives recommend that you set a rule that the kid would be able to access the internet for a specific time limit. Whether they have to do research for their homework assignments or use it for entertainment purposes, they shouldn’t be allowed to browse the internet for more than an hour.
8. Don’t allow kids to shop online
It is not a good idea to allow your kids to do whatever they want to do on the internet at the allotted time. Strictly prohibit them from using the internet to shop online without parental supervision. They could enter the personal details on a suspicious or unsecured website.
9. Don’t allow kids to download something unsupervised
Make sure you tell your kids that they should not download or install anything on the device unsupervised. Teach them installing something from an unsecured site can lead them to serious trouble. So, they must think twice before downloading anything online.
Kim Marks 
Nicola Holder