The Guide to Online Safety of Kids and Why Parents Must Pay Attention to This
Posted by Gryphon Online Safety on February 15th, 2021
Every parent wants to provide a safe and secure environment to their child. But, we live in a world of digitalization, where it might be a herculean task to ensure your child gets access to safe content that’s his/her age appropriate. So, how do parents deal with the problem?
Computers, laptop, tablets and smartphones are easily accessible to children. Moreover, their dependency on the technology has increased even more during COVID-19 times. The schools are taking online classes and with complete lockdown during initial months of pandemic, kids were restricted to indoors, hooked onto the screens. The technology has its benefits, but there are cyber crimes targeting kids making it imperative for parents to protect their child against any sort of threat. So, how do parents go about it?
Stay informed
It is important for parents to learn about the online safety protocols, if they want to provide kids a safer environment. There are websites and apps available to provide education on cybersecurity and other preventive measures to parents. Parents can join these communities to gather education and help kids become good digital citizens
In addition to seeking help from the online tools, parents need to be educated themselves. If they aren’t tech savvy, they might not be able to utilise the tools properly. They must know how to use an app or a social networking site to find out its pros and cons. The more tech savvy parents are, better it gets for them to monitor kids.
Get wifi router with child protection
When making home browsing environment safe and secure for kids, it is important to get router child protection features in the device. Most advanced routers nowadays come with parental control features enabling parents to block certain websites, pause wi-fi, and do other security changes in the network.
Know the risks
Letting kids use Internet without monitoring means exposing them to risk. There’s a lot of content available on the Internet and when parents don’t keep an eye on what their kid is watching, it could increase the possibility of kids accessing inappropriate content. In addition to being prone to watching wrong content, children also end up spending more time on the Internet. They get detached to the real world and this can impact the growth of the young ones.
What should be done?
• Parental control options can help limit the Internet access for kids. Parents can use safe-search options in browsers and other device-specific solutions to block the websites at device level. Besides this, they can opt for advanced wifi routers that come with security features.
• Frequently changing passwords and keeping tricky passwords can also protect the home Internet network against from malware attack and hacking.
• Using two-factor authentication is also recommended. Nowadays, many social media networks offer layered protection to enhance the security of accounts. This will save your social media and other accounts from hacking and other unethical usage.
These are some of the many ways that parents can adopt to restrict Internet access for kids and monitor their online activities.
Author Bio
Samantha
Samantha is a psychologist, basically dealing with clinical psychology. She has experience of working with kids. She uses her experience and knowledge to write blog posts on router child protection, Internet and safety for kids, and other related topics.
