Are you Internet safety conscious with your kid's laptop?
Internet safety is often overlooked by parents, many of whom are blind to the potential dangers lurking online. It’s vital that parents are safety conscious when it comes to the Internet, and that they are aware of the websites their kids are accessing.
The fact remains that many children know more about the Internet than their parents. While this is great for the child (as the Internet can be a fantastic tool to aid their learning and development), this knowledge gap may cause problems. Consequently, it is vital that parents educate themselves.
Cyberbullying is a threat faced by many children. The major difference between this form of bullying and typical bullying is that it can occur at any time throughout the day and normally takes the form of abusive messages. Because of the popularity and the growth of social networking sites like Facebook, the number of people who can fall victim to bullying is potentially very large.
The most common mediums for cyberbullying are chat rooms, email, social networking sites and instant messaging services. Most kids will have access to many of these modes of communication, so it is imperative that parents keep an eye on what their kids are up to online in order to protect them. While on social networking sites, children should be encouraged to befriend only people they personally know, and to restrict access to other users.
A recent campaign launched by the UK Council for Internet Safety is a helpful way for parents to protect their children. This campaign is known as the ‘Click Clever, Click Safe’ code, and there are three key elements to it: zip it block it flag it.
The first element, ‘zip it’, advises children to keep their personal information, including passwords, safe and private. ‘Block it’ encourages children to block people who are abusive or threatening towards them, and also only open links they know are from a reliable source.
The final part of the ‘Click Clever, Click Safe’ code, ‘flag it’, tells children to inform people if they are upset by anything they have encountered online. Parents are advised to encourage their children to follow this code on a daily basis, and to check regularly with their children that they are staying safe online.
There are a number of other tips that parents can follow to keep their children safe online. These include:
- Being aware of who their children are communicating with, and ensuring they don't use a webcam without an adult present.
- Making sure they are not able to access inappropriate content online.
- Ensuring that safe search filters are turned on. These are a feature of all reputable search engines, including Google and Yahoo!. Households with a wireless router can also disable access to certain websites by blocking them with the use of a password.
- Keywords can also be blocked from searches; a useful tool to protect children from inappropriate content.
Parents should be aware of what websites their children are visiting, and viewing a computer’s search history makes this possible. This will show every website visited, along with the time and date that the site was accessed.
Parents should place a limit on the amount of time that children spend online, and they should encourage their children to use their laptops in the same room that they are in, so that they can monitor the amount of time that the Internet is being accessed on a daily basis. It is also a useful idea for parents to join social networking sites that their children use, as details of conversations taking place on the sites can be monitored.
By following simple safety procedures, parents can help to protect their children while they are online.
