What to Tell Your Kids about Staying Safe Online
Today's Internet landscape is rife with threats that you absolutely don't want your children to be exposed to. Thankfully, here's a small, no-nonsense list of tips that you can easily refer to and remind your kids of whenever they go online.
- Don't give out personal information.
- Never befriend anyone you do not personally know.
- Never be afraid to ask for help from you.
- When in doubt, close the browser window.
Whether talking to someone on an instant messaging service, posting something on a message board, or even sharing personal facts on a social networking site, remind your children to never put down more than a few simple details about themselves(such as their names and hobbies). Always make sure that they understand what could happen should someone catch wind of your kids' home address or your credit card numbers!
While it may be tempting to be nice to everyone on the Internet and to gladly accept their invitations, remind them that just like strangers in the real world whom you've warned them of, there's really no way of knowing if someone really wants to be your friend or if that someone has ulterior motives. If the stranger isn't someone that your children's other contacts are familiar with or if his/her profile seems suspicious, block or ignore his/her messages and/or invitation.
When left on their own, children will be more than happy to try and fix something they've either broken or mishandled. While their intentions may be noble, they may end up causing more harm than good. This is especially true when the Internet is involved with malware that exist solely to scare users into buying or downloading fake software that could worsen your situation lurking in seemingly every corner. Always remind your children that should they be alerted to a system problem that they may or may not have caused, it is imperative that they ask for your help. Letting them know that you won't reprimand them for coming to you will greatly help.
Remind your children that, if for some reason, they feel that they should not be seeing a particular site or if the site makes them uncomfortable for any reason, make them feel empowered to close that window. One thing good about the Internet is that whatever happens there does not have to affect your children on a personal level as long as they take the necessary precautions. Always tell them that they have the right to refuse, block, or ignore websites or invitations to visit a site or to communicate with people they don't know.
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