Important Children Safety Tips and Getting Help from SecureTeen

Nowadays, parents are becoming seriously concerned about their teens using laptops and smartphones. That’s not at all surprising as the cases of cyberbullying and other online dangers are increasing day by day. As teens head back to school, with their smartphones in the hand, the parents get more worried.

In this article published on HuffPost, Matthew Johnson, Director of Education at MediaSmarts, stressed that parents should be more involved with their kids. Parents need to have regular communication about their cyber lives and the real ones. Open communication is all about creating and maintaining trust.

Further, he insisted that the basic parental role should be to teach the child how to manage the risks, not to always protect them by putting the restrictions. Protection doesn’t mean that you play authoritative with your kid and tell him what to do and what not to do. Rather it is about having them face risky situations and teaching them the ways to handle them.

Teach them the rules of moral standards that are beneficial for them. Don’t ask them to obey you blindly. Children need to understand that their phone belongs to their parents, and they are using it as a privilege. The advises and communication should come from a place of love, not authority.

As explained in this article, there are a few children safety tips that will prove to be very fruitful if followed properly. Proper communication and a sense of love can bring big changes in your teens’ life.

1. Be Updated

As parents, you must learn continuously. The digital world is evolving at a greater speed, one must move on with it. Your kids are learning new things every day, and if you don’t keep up your knowledge with them, they won’t listen to you seriously. First, learn, and then talk to them about internet safety.

2. Privacy Control

According to CyberSafe BC, 55% of teens share their personal information with strangers over the internet. 24% have their personal and embarrassing information revealed without their permission. To keep tabs on these issues, teach your child not to share personal stuff online with anyone. Keep the privacy settings on apps as tight as possible.

Educate them that they should add the people who they have met in person only. They shouldn’t follow strangers without any knowledge except for the kids-friendly celebrity accounts.

3. Setting Age-appropriate Rules

There is a solid reason behind the age limit for making social media accounts. This age limit should be followed strictly. If they are younger, don’t leave cell phones in their bedrooms overnight.

This is true that you cannot be with your child all the time. So teach them what to watch and what to skip. Also, share your reasons with them. Show them that everything is for their good. If they require internet for homework, set a predetermined time for its usage.

4. Using Parental Control Apps

At a younger age, your kids might ask for more internet time. You cannot put restrictions on them and neither can you be with them every time they use the internet. Using parental control apps like SecureTeen can help a lot.

You can remotely shut down your kid’s WIFI access, install a security browser extension, monitor social media activities, block certain websites, and some other stuff with this parental control app. This way you kid will understand the boundaries as well.

5. Teach Them to Think Critically

Kids don’t know what they are reading and watching on the internet is true or fake. Having the sense to verify some information we read on the internet is even valuable for adults. So, ask them if the stuff they are sharing on the internet represents who they are or want to be. Ask them if they know that information is correct or not.

Educate them to think critically about the world seeing their stuff. They must know that the things they share and the post will haunt them for life.

6. Have This Conversation at an Early Age

You think the kids are too young for this sort of communication. But while you are thinking that, they have already seen a lot of weird stuff on the internet. So, it is better to be aware of the mental capacity of your kids.

You know they are curious about things, and they will start exploring very soon. It is better to have this conversation about internet safety with them as soon as possible. They might be sharing your laptop right now, so teach them through it.

7. Online Gaming Should Be Discussed

We often leave online gaming as a sports part that doesn’t need any discussion. Your kid meets a lot of new people through online gaming. Gaming safety rules should also be part of digital rules.

Kids are usually aggressive and excited while playing games online. Some people take this grudge outside of the game also. So, teach your child to never share their personal information with people over there.

As stated in this article published in The Guardian, a former government advisor said,

“The internet is a lawless jungle too dangerous for children to use.”

The parents should feel empowered for discussing online safety with their kids. You don’t need to scare them about the dangers of the internet world. You just need to educate them that everything should be used in balance and that everything has a good and a bad side.

Using SecureTeen gives you the confidence of knowing your child more closely and discussing more properly. You can monitor their activities and block explicit content. Along with this monitoring, a good conversation will give you the best results.

Teens are at the edge of becoming a rebel. The restrictions we put on them without having a proper discussion induce that. This is the worst scenario. They need more love, attention, and support at this time. Do teach them about the dangers of the outer world, but with love and support. This way, you will earn their trust and they will share their life events with you.