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The first day of June isn’t a holiday per se, but it’s been recognized by the United Nations as a “Global Day of Parents.” According to the UN, the day is meant to celebrate parents’ “selfless commitment to children and their lifelong sacrifice towards nurturing this relationship.” To honor that sentiment, SmarterHome.ai has created some helpful tips to promote internet safety for kids.
1) Talk To Your Kids About Online Safety
Yep, the first tip is as basic as they come: talk to your kids!
We live in a connected world, and many children today will interact with the internet before they’re even walking. According to one study, 97% of US kids between the ages of three and 18 have access to home internet, whether through a computer or a smartphone. With that in mind, it’s never too early to talk to your kids about the world wide web.
Some good topics to bring up include general safety information: don’t click on pop-ups, don’t share passwords or personal information, and caution them against interacting with strangers.
Obviously, you want to keep the conversation age appropriate, and one great tool for introducing healthy online habits to young children is Techosaurus. This is a fun, light-hearted program (created by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) that will build a strong foundation for future online awareness. Google has also built a free website to help kids learn about internet safety entitled Be Internet Awesome.
For parents of teens that are already using social media, the American Psychological Association recommends weekly chats about the various platforms, how they work and how kids interact with it. By making discussions about online activity a regular habit, you can offer your children a safe, judgement-free place to bring up questions or issues as they arise.
2) Familiarize Yourself With Parental Control Apps
The best parental control software will enable parents to filter what sites their kids visit online, blocking inappropriate ones from a “control center” on their main computer or phone. These are great to have when you give your child their first smartphone or allow them to use the computer on their own. However, bear in mind that almost any control can be circumvented by a tech savvy user. That’s why these apps should be used in tandem with open, judgement-free communication.
Also, it’s important to know just what you’re signing up for when you search for a parental blocker. On the surface, an app that protects your kids from inappropriate websites sounds simple enough. However, it’s extremely important to understand who’s making these apps and what exactly you’re signing up for when you download it onto your device. One study found that many of these apps had “serious issues around privacy, consent and even safety.”
Instead of downloading third-party software, PC Mag recommends using the free apps available from Apple, Microsoft, and Google for blocking inappropriate websites.
3) Use Safe Browsing Tools For Families
We’ve all been there: searching for something online when our query gives us a result we definitely did not intend. But it’s also just as easy to end up on a page we did intend, only to find words, images, or even video that are too intense or graphic for young users. That’s why kid-friendly search engines exist, to make sure that whatever pops up in that search result is age appropriate.
There are a number of these search engines, including Kiddle, Safe Search Kids, Kidtopia, and many more. For finding age appropriate videos, YouTube Kids is designed for children up to 12 years old.
4) Make Sure Kids Understand Their Digital Footprint
This is something Boomers and Gen X’ers didn’t really have to deal with. Millennials will have a better handle on it, but for the kids of Gen Z and beyond, this is now a fact of life: the internet is not going away, and data is forever.
Tech expert Stephanie Humphrey explained this new normal to Kinzoo, “I don’t think [parents] really understand that the things their kids are doing now are setting them up for a digital footprint that’s going to follow them around for the rest of their life. It’s important to understand the permanence of the internet and the fact that the internet is searchable and recoverable.”
Humphrey added that a digital footprint encompasses more than just social media posts, it also includes group chats, text messages, and emails.
Data permanency isn’t a concept younger children may understand, but as they grow up and begin to use the internet as part of their daily life, it needs to be part of their lexicon. Explain to your kids that what they do and say and post on the internet becomes part of a public archive. And that archive can affect their social, academic, and professional lives in the future.
5) Limit Screen Time
This is a tip we can all benefit from, but for developing minds, it’s essential for their health. Make no mistake, screens can be incredible tools for learning and communication. It’s now possible for grandma and grandpa to say hi to their grandchildren even half a world away. But like anything, it’s excessive use that leads to problems.
One study reports that too much screen time can be detrimental to language development, academic performance, and lead to emotional and behavioral issues. It’s also been linked to obesity, poor sleep, and reduction in focus.
For children between the ages of two and five, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends limiting screen time to just one hour per day. For older children, experts recommend creating “tech-free” times when all media is turned off, such as during a meal or singling out one day a week when TVs and other devices are kept off.
Conclusion
The internet is an amazing tool, capable of delivering news, entertainment, and valuable information across the world at lightning fast speeds. But let’s face it, there’s also plenty of nasty and dangerous stuff that comes along with it. Whether you’re a parent, relative, or teacher, it’s important to monitor children’s internet use and protect them from the not-so-nice elements out there.
Talk to your kids, make sure they’re using kid-friendly search engines, try to explain data permanency, limit screen time, and be aware of parental control apps to protect their online activity. These are all valuable tools for building a safe internet experience for the family.
