Teaching Your Kids Safe Searching and Internet Safety

Parents and teachers are very concerned about what children get up to online. With the increased risks that children are exposed to on a daily basis, it is important to encourage Internet safety (at home and at school).

Here are a few tips in order to get you started:

• Be open with your children about the risks involved in going online and accessing social media accounts.
• If you can supervise your child’s activities online personally then do it. Remember that no search filtering software is as good as your own supervision.
• Don’t allow your children to access the Internet or any social media accounts without adult supervision. If you are not home and if there is no one to watch what sites your children access then make sure your children know that they are not allowed online.
• Stay educated on the different types of social media accounts and technology. By knowing how things work, you can protect your children better. Also, remember to have open discussion with your children about the effects and dangers that can come from posting inappropriate content and pictures online.
• Keep all technological devices in an open area in the house. This makes it easier for you to keep track of what your child is up to online.
• Do not allow your child to take his or her laptop to their bedroom where you cannot see what they are doing online.

Teach your children how to stay safe on social media. Have a look at this link for additional information on social media safety – http://www.safesearchkids.com/parents-guide-to-protecting-teens-on-social-media/#.WPmgn2996Cg

• It may be a good idea to install parental control software on your devices in order to control what your children can access online.
• Activate parental controls for sites such YouTube.
• Teach your children not to give out any personal information about themselves online.
• Inform your children to never go and meet strangers that they have met online.
• Make it a rule that your child needs to tell you what pictures they want to post on social media. This gives you the opportunity to screen all pictures before they are posted.