What Parents Can Do to Teach Internet Safety

The world has changed tremendously.

Decades ago, the word ‘Internet’ did not even exist in the dictionary. Now look at us:  Humanity now seems to need the Internet as much as the very air we breathe.

The birth of the World Wide Web has ushered in a plethora of possibilities. With a simple tap of your Smart Phone you can get access to any information, link up to anyone and become literally anything you wish to be.

However, as much as the internet has a lot of advantages, so does it have its cons.

Nowadays, children barely out of Kindergarten are granted access to the web. They are exposed to all sorts of materials without supervision and sadly most parents remain apathetic to the potential dangers lurking in the online world.

What can parents do to teach their children about internet safety?

Our children are the future.

They are the edifices to our foundations and as such, we owe it not only to them, but also to ourselves to give them a dignified and hopeful future.

In order to protect our kids from the dark aspects of the web, we must ensure that they are Cyber Security aware.

The first thing you need to do is to properly educate your children. Proper communication goes a long way so you will need to enlighten them about the dangers and risks of the online world.

Kids do not do what they are told, but imitate what they see

You cannot expect your children to follow your words of caution if you yourself continue to throw caution to the wind.

All too often, kids do not know how to properly create a safe online environment for themselves because no one has shown them how, so they would rather imitate what they see around them, and as a result, they could fall victim to all sorts of malicious schemes and plots online.

Children who reveal too much information about themselves online could end up being susceptible.  They could be stalked, bullied or worse: Their accounts could be hacked and they could become victims of identity theft.

Sadly, you yourself could unknowingly be teaching your kids to be vulnerable and reckless online.

At a young age, a child’s vulnerability is at its peak: They are easily influenced and ready to absorb information like a sponge.

According to Research, a lot of parents post far too much personal information about themselves and their family online.

This is not only unwise, but could lead to disastrous consequences.

What’s the solution? Practice what you preach!

The first thing you need to do is to work on yourself by educating yourself and engaging in good security practices.

Our kids mirror our behaviors. If they observe their parents taking the proper precautions like instituting rules to eliminating rogue downloads, they will most likely pick up the habit.

As a parent, you must ensure to introduce security concepts to your child and the earlier the better! A five your old is not too young to be taught the basic concepts of cyber security. All you need to do is to enlighten them in the most fun and engaging way possible.

Older children should not be left out. They should be taught to treat cyber security as they would real life security related situations.

Manage your child’s screen time

In order to ensure that your children do not stray you must remain vigilant and monitor their online activities.

Perhaps you could consider limiting the number of devices accessible to them; cut off the gadgets they don’t need.

Now, thanks to the improvement in technology, you can keep tabs on their activities on the phones and computers: Take for instance the Apple IOS devices and some Android tablets which allow restrictions on app usage.

Now, new Models of windows Computers and Apps come with built in parental controls which allow you to limit the amount of computer time each user account has per day and which applications they have access to.

Cyber security awareness isn’t something you could just instill overnight. It is a gradual process that evolves with time and Technology. The best way to stay safe online is to continue to engage in good security practices.

If a child is smart enough to work his/her way around a Smartphone, then he/she is old enough to be educated about cyber security.