by: Peter McBryde
The internet is a substantial part of modern day life. It reaches to everyone and none more so than children. From gaming, schoolwork to their free time and chatting friends.
The internet can help enrich children’s lives no end as there are reams of information they can easily access, and in many cases. More than they can find from many other sources.
Responsible parents can follow these six steps to make sure their children are safer when they are online:
Talking of Risks & Setting Some Boundaries
Setting boundaries falls into diverse areas. It’s not only the time they spend online, but it’s also the areas where they spend their time.
Late at night isn’t healthy when your child is in their room, and these boundaries include social media usage and spending all their time chatting with friends.
Family interaction should be encouraged at meal times and when there are family gatherings.
The age children can make use of the internet, and the technology to access is getting younger and younger. If they possess the capacity for this, they are at an ideal age to be informed of the dangers they face.
Parental Controls Do the Hard Work
This comes in many forms and covers many areas. From preventing unwanted software being installed all the way to making sure adult content can’t be viewed. Malware can be one of the most significant threats to anyone and not only children.
As most threats can’t be seen, they are hard to detect. Software such as Net Nanny can prevent most of these threats without a parent having to delve into various parts of a child’s computer.
This package helps stop keyloggers, ransomware, and other programs. These will run in the background and send personal information to hackers.
Social media can also be monitored, and email alerts sent should anything be highlighted as suspicious. Modern browsers now come with an incognito mode which prevents any history being saved on a child’s device. Cookies which retain information are wiped clean and can’t be accessed.
Securing a Child’s Connection
Children will spend a lot of time online. It is for sure they will be unaware of all the dangers. One of the best ways you can make your child safer is by securing their connection. This will stop anyone from accessing any device in your home as access to the internet won’t show your real IP address. The best VPNs can protect your home connections while at the same time protecting a child’s mobile device.
This is a great way to offer some peace of mind when your child is away from home. These VPN connections make your child’s device safe when using Wi-Fi or public hotspots.
Social Media and Cyberbullying
Online predators take full advantage of children using social media platforms. Here they try to befriend younger children by appearing to be someone they are not.
In some instances, they wish to meet, and this is where good education prevails. A child should understand never to meet someone in person.
Cyberbullying threats to children are another area. If they become a victim, they can in most cases be reluctant to mention it.
This threat includes: posting personal information, intimidation, and harassment. Too much sharing of information on social media quickly attracts this type of attention.
It also makes it easier for online predators to manipulate children as they become a comfort to them
Online Activity
As mentioned before. Net Nanny can prevent malicious software from being installed and is one of the only packages which can monitor social media. If parents choose to go about it manually, there are many third-party applications which to install.
Browser extensions being the main one. Ad blockers and website tracking blockers do a good job. However, they only go so far.
This being said. A lot of these areas are solved when a connection is secured by using a VPN service. Tracking is none existent as the IP address isn’t a real one and adverts can be blocked at source rather than when they attempt to open.
The only downside to using this type of software is your child might feel you are being too restrictive and watching every move. Children who feel restricted are less likely to mention problems online as they will start to feel it is their fault.
There are numerous methods here which can help to keep your children safe. The first one which should be considered can have the most substantial impact on security.
A VPN service has many features and takes away much of the worry for responsible parents.
BIO: Peter McBryde writes for VPN Streamer, a website dedicated to getting more from the internet and protecting your privacy. Peter has a background in IT and Network systems.
You can also find Peter on Facebook and Twitter.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2018 Linda Girgis, MD, FAAFP
