Why Should Parents Pursue Children Safety Programs Like SecureTeen?

Is your child safe on the internet? Well, the answer to this question is quite complicated. You might have warned them about the dangers outside, or better, you don’t let them go to weird places. You protect them wherever they go, but you are okay with them sitting at home with mobile phones in their hands.

You often say, “Well, at least they are home. What harm could a mobile do to them?”

If you think this, then you probably are not aware of the online dangers. Cyberbullying, violence, online pedophilia and grooming, and the promotion of unhealthy body images are just a few from many. Maybe your kid is not physically interacting with these things, but their minds and actions are equally affected by this.

There is an example of a 14-year-old kid named Breck Bednar, as stated in the article published in The Guardian. He was murdered by a 19 years old Lewis whom he had met through an online games forum. His mother has taken the responsibility to advise all the guardians and parents to monitor the online activities of their children.

These unfortunate events highlight the dangers of the online world. It is a serious concern for parents nowadays. If you think that your kid is safe with the mobile phone, you need to rethink it. Excess of everything is bad. Therefore, there is a balance required in the usage of social media by the kids.

Dangers That Teens Face in the Digital World:

There are plenty of other threats hovering around the kids as they indulge in the digital world. As very well explained in this article, there are many dangers that a kid faces in the digital world. Some are:

1. Cyberbullying

Though it has become very common now, it has adverse effects on the mind of a teen. Many teens who become victim of cyberbullying often fall into depression, anxiety, stress, and self-identity issues. At the worse, some even commit suicide.

2. Private Information Posting

Children are not aware of the boundaries yet, so they post whatever they like. They post about how their day went, what they are feeling, or what they hate the most, etc. The level of excitement often reaches the stage where they share their home address with a stranger.

3. Falling for Scams

As they are kids, they often don’t know about scams. A glittering offer shows up and they click it right away. This is also a way of online predators to search for potential victims. They might offer some glittery prize to the kid in turn for their parents’ credit card information and stuff. If not educated before, the kids can cause some serious damage.

4. Posts That They Might Want to Face in The Future

They don’t know that yet, but there are things that they post about themselves that are too personal. They do it because they feel like they have got the platform to be themselves. But what if those posts are still there 20 years later? Will they like it? Probably not. That is why they need to be taught the right manner of posting anything.

5. Cyber Predators

Cyber predators look for their victims in online groups or forums. They often choose the kid with the most vulnerability. Since kids post everything, so it is not difficult to know which one is the weakest. They target these kids and then lure them into something very dangerous. They might make them do the things that are dangerous for their health.

These are just a few of many dangers. Once you start understanding and taking interest in it, you will know how dangerous the internet is for your kids. Only the thought of having all material exposed to any age is scary enough. This is why you need to protect your child.

How Can I Protect My Child from Digital World Dangers?

Though there are many children safety programs out there, you need to select the most suitable one. Along with these programs, there are certain actions that must be added to successfully make your child safe. This article published on HuffPost, explains some of the ways that you can use to handle this situation in a better and effective way.

Have an Early Conversation

The Children's Commissioner's report (Growing up Digital, 2017) suggests that at a younger age, children are more positive about parental intervention. Thus, when your child has just started using mobile phones and tablets, it is time to talk about internet safety. Here are a few things you can discuss with them:

• Think twice before uploading anything on the internet.
• Protection is not restricted to the street only. Tell them they ought to protect themselves in the digital world as well.
• Stranger is a danger with nice words. No matter how nice they are, strangers are not their family.
• Have proper communication about collaborating in the internet world. Take out some time regularly and share internet experiences with each other.

You can add anything to this regarding the personality of your kid.

Children Safety Programs

As explained in this article, limit to devices can help a lot in saving your child from the dangers. You cannot ask them to leave their mobile phones and laptops. It would an unnecessary debate. When you know how much they are glued to their cell phones, manage other ways to tackle that.

SecureTeen lets you monitor your child’s activities and offers you the opportunity to control what they see. You can block some of the websites and manage their screentime by using it. This way, not only will you be knowing and to an extent controlling their social approach, but you will also be able to understand them better.

Putting restrictions on them will only be good if you first talk to them about it. Talk about the dangers of the internet and how it is healthy for them to properly use it. Tell them the ways they can use the internet to increase their knowledge and have healthy relationships.

When you communicate with them along with making some boundaries, they will understand better.