The internet has become a huge part of people lives in recent years. You can now do almost anything online and reach any corner of the world. However, with this has also come some problems that have caused many families to think about how safe their children are online. Thankfully, there are ways that you can check what your kids do online and help them to understand the need to keep themselves safe.
Understand the Threats
Before you can adequately tell your children what to look out for, you need to know it yourself. Not all of these threats are easy to spot, so you need to do your research and read all you can about the potential threats. Check out the websites that show the details of such threats and look at the list of sites that have been causing issues. Some of them you might think are ok for children, but they are often thinly veiled sites that can become a dangerous place for your child to visit.
Prepare Your Computer
The next thing you need to do is prepare the computer or tablet that your children use. You should have already discovered how to keep your computer secure, but now you need to think about its connection to the internet. Most web browsers now have a feature that allows you to filter out certain words or phrases from the search engines. It will prevent your kids from searching for anything inappropriate. You can also compile a list of websites that you don’t want your kids to visit. These sites will then be blocked if anyone tries to view them. It can be a useful back-up in case your child inadvertently, goes onto the wrong site.
For teenagers who may be hoping to do some online shopping, then you need to teach them to keep their card details safe and away from anyone looking over their shoulders. What’s more, as Secure Data Recovery suggest, you should teach them to place tape over their webcam – if it’s good enough for Mark Zuckerberg, then it’s good enough for your children!
Take an Interest in What They Are Doing
You might not be a fan of the games they play online or appreciate the music they like listening to, but it is important that you try to remain interested in what they do in case they are on a site that could be potentially dangerous. You also want to make sure that none of the sites they are visiting have an online chat. It is one of the most dangerous areas of the internet for children, so they should be discouraged from chatting with anyone on there. If they want to chat with their friends, tell them to message them via text message if they have their number or by another channel, you have already secured.
Personal Information
From the beginning, it is important that your children know the dangers of providing personal information online. If they are setting up a profile for a new website, then they should think of a username that has no connection to them at all. That way, no-one can guess their name or their age.
Although the internet can be seen as dangerous, there is no reason why you and your children cannot have a great time on the internet as long as it’s safe.
