The most precious thing for parents is their kids. They always secure the safety of their child. At school, with whom they are interacting in the playground, how are their friends – most of the parents monitor these matters. When a child starts walking, parents remain careful that their child doesn’t fall. Parents always want them to be safe.
But are parents able to ensure the safety of their children online? Are they able to protect children from online dangers?
As concerned parents, they must know the internet safety rules for kids.
- Parents have to know about their child’s online friends.
Making friends online is easy. At the same time, it is not so safe. So, they have to teach their child not to trust easily & keep info of whom they are contacting.
- Setting screens & devices in such places where they can monitor their child’s online activity.
Set devices near your working area. Don’t allow them to use smartphones, or computers in their room privately.
- Talk freely with your children about their online activity & make them comfortable with you.
You must monitor your child’s online activity, but don’t be rude & mean to them. Be friendly & gentle. If kids are comfortable with you, they will share everything. This can save a child from unwanted troubles.
- Teach children with online safety rules, such as –
1. Being aware of strangers
When communicating with strangers online, tell them to be careful and not to meet any person without informing you. Teach them about the privacy of personal information.
2. Keep their information private
Tell them to not share their phone number, address, location, or institution name with an anonymous person. Sharing limited information on social media is always a good idea.
3. Password safety
Sharing passwords with anyone is dangerous. Help them make a strong password and teach them to remember it properly. Make sure that they log out of their profile every time.
- Control access (For Android phone)
Method(1)- set parental controls
Parental controls are systems, which are created for parents to restrict certain content for their children. There are various types of content floating on the internet. Some can be inappropriate for children. Parental controls allow parents to block those contents for their kids.
- Go to the play store
2. Go to account
3. Go to Family
4. Turn on parental controls
Method (2)- activate safe search
When SafeSearch is on, it helps hide harmful content on Search
It detects explicit content such as violent content or adult content within an image
- Go to google homepage, click on the account
- Go to settings
- Find Safe search filters, click on hide explicit results
- Create a PIN
And, you are done. These two methods are great to hide inappropriate content. But these are not 100% accurate all the time. There is no better way to teach kids about online safety. Parents have to make the internet safe for their children.
Always maintain a healthy relationship with your child. Teach them about the pros & cons of the internet. Make them comfortable to ask for help.
If they ever feel any discomfort, such as – mean texts or voice calls from an unknown person or someone is forcing them to give their personal information, don’t ignore it. Listen to them & take proper safety actions.