Protect your kids online!

Most of today’s children have on line even before they enter school, there are many games and apps on line made to invite them to play while learning. The question is, how do we, as parents, educate our children to be careful when connected to the internet? When is the right time to take action? And what problems exist and need to be addressed?

Given the large amount of content and applications on line, especially apps games, parents often have difficulty in assessing which applications are suitable for children. The Google Play Store has a Family category that lists only family-friendly apps, i.e. apps that have no age limit and only allow ads that are kid-friendly. The Apple App Store also has a Kids category which only accepts apps that meet certain data protection requirements to protect child users. Apps accepted in this category require parental consent when their child clicks a link to an external site or wants to make an in-app purchase.

The Internet is a very effective learning tool and entertainment platform, but it is important for parents to ensure that their children are also aware of the risks involved. They don’t need to mention all the bad things that can happen to the world on line one by one, it is enough to educate their children to understand that the internet can be dangerous if they are not careful – even when they are at home with their PC, smartphone or tablet – and social media platforms are no exception.

Talk NS with your children about the social media platforms they use or would like to try. Set Privacy Settings with them while explaining what information I can share with them and with whom. Cyberbullying (cyberbullying) is another important issue that parents should discuss openly with their children. Popular messaging apps like WhatsApp provide a setting feature so that only the contact’s friends can see the profile picture and status. Parents should also ensure that their children have encryption enabled end-to-end to prevent cybercriminals (cybercriminals) or third parties access sensitive messages and information. Equally important, parents and children using messaging services on line like WhatsApp need to coordinate with each other because messages are only protected if each user encrypts them.

In addition to explaining the potential risks that exist, it is also important for parents to be directly involved with activities on line their children. Follow them while surfing the internet and let them reveal what activities they enjoy on the internet. Enjoy time with them so your child feels like their parents understand their hobbies, so they feel comfortable turning to you when things go wrong.

Children can connect to the internet on their own, and use apps on line without assistance and monitoring, but parents still have to ensure that the content they visit is always appropriate for their age range. Use a parental control device, or an ad blocker. Protecting children starts with educating parents about internet safety and the associated risks. Generally, the more often their parents use digital media, and the more internet content and applications, the more proficient children become in using the internet. (Pete Turner, Consumer Security Expert, Avast)

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