What to Teach Your Child About Using the Internet

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Today it’s difficult to raise a child without the internet. Kids are getting online from a younger age than ever before for schoolwork, socializing and entertainment. You simply can’t get away from it, and it’s important for parents to teach their children about online safety from as soon as they start using the internet. There are plenty of risks that kids face when online, and teaching them how to stay safe will not only improve their experience now but help them develop good online security habits throughout their lives. Here are some of the main things to teach your children about internet safety. It is important to know key internet statistics

Talk to You:

Your kids should know that if they ever see anything inappropriate online or are contacted by a suspicious stranger, they should come and tell you immediately. Make sure that your kids feel safe to come and tell you about these things and that they know they are not to blame should it happen. If your child has been contacted by somebody online and you suspect that it’s a person who is up to no good, you can use Nuwber to find out more about them – simply enter any information you have on them like a phone number, email or name. 

Fact-Check:

Make sure that your child knows that not everything he or she reads online is true. The internet is not fact-checked for accuracy, so whether your child is using it for homework resources or browsing social media, make sure that they are aware that anything they read online unless it’s from a trusted website, should be taken with a pinch of salt and encourage them to do their own research before believing anything that they read. 

Cyberbullying:

It’s important to teach your child about cyberbullying and how to avoid both doing it and avoid it happening to them. If your child uses social media, it’s important to teach them that it is OK to block anybody who might bully or be rude to them, and to let somebody know if they receive any upsetting messages. Teach your child that they should never say anything online that they would not say to somebody’s face. 

Careful Sharing:

Remind your child that whatever they post online is permanent. This is especially important to teach when your child starts using social media. Whether they are sharing somebody else’s post or writing status or Tweet, make sure that they know to think it through carefully, and remember that even content that is deleted later may never be fully gone from the internet. 

Be Cautious When Clicking:

Teach your child about internet security and why they should be careful when clicking on links. Let them know that not all online links are safe and it’s important to double-check a link before visiting it unless it comes from a trusted source like Google. Teach your child about checking for the padlock symbol in the browser bar before they enter any information into a website. 

Security Updates:

As your child gets older, it’s a good idea to let them take responsibility for keeping their devices up to date. Speak to your child about the importance of keeping security software, in particular, running on the latest version since they are updated for a reason as hackers come up with more sophisticated ways to bypass the security.