With the technological advances these days, I am sure many of you are worried about the usage of electronic devices and the online world, especially when your children are involved.
Many of you will have seen your children use their favorite social media platforms like Instagram and Tiktok, but how many of you are actually aware of the content or information they are watching or receiving?
If you have not been monitoring your child’s online activities or the content they have been watching, I would recommend for you to read on as I share some tips on what you can do to prevent your child from unwanted online exposure!
The Internet is a dangerous place.
As most of your children gain access to electronic devices these days, it is very likely that they are already exposed to whatever is out there!
While sometimes the Internet allows your children to gain important access to knowledge and information, there are also times whereby they can get into contact with undesirable content such as pornographic and violent sites.
Youtube and other social media sites may seem safe, but what if they are not? Parents in other countries have found deeply concerning content on YouTube catered to children! What if your child was one of them who watched the content?
In fact, some of your children may even have spoken with strangers online using social media platforms. Doesn’t that worry you?
As parents, you definitely would have taught your child not to talk to strangers. Yet, in this day and age, strangers can contact your child in such simple ways and disguise themselves in different manners. Such a scary thought!
This is why we need to really try to understand the different internet dangers posed, and ensure that we educate and guide our children to ensure that they are not negatively influenced or affected by these dangers!
You must guide and educate your child
Parents are the first line of defense for your child in terms of these internet dangers.
When you choose to provide your child with the electronic devices and the access to internet and the online world, you should be present at all times to educate and guide your child on the proper content that they should be consuming.
If you allow your child to do any thing they want with their devices, that could be considered as an irresponsible act of parenting.
You should also maintain a relationship of trust with your child so that they will inform you when they see something inappropriate on the web. Using such opportunities, you may then have fruitful discussions with your child on the content they are watching.
Set boundaries
To prevent your children from being overly fixated on their devices and the online world, you must set boundaries with your children.
By setting rules of what your child can or cannot do while using the internet, it helps to instill some responsibility in them.
Also set time limits so that your children is not spending too much time online. They cannot be exposed to something that they are not allowed to use!
Usage of parental control applications
These days, there are many parental control apps you can use to help monitor your child’s safety when using the internet.
One such parental control app is FamiSafe. If you use FamiSafe, you will be happy to know that their app presents many functions.
They have an app blocker function which allows you to block age-appropriate apps.
These apps will disappear from your child’s phone so that they would not be able to access it. They also have an activity tracker that allows you to check what your child is doing on their phone.
If you want to prevent your child from playing games for a long period of time, you can even set time limits for specific apps!
What about online content via the internet then? FamiSafe also provides a website filter function which allows you to filter inappropriate websites for your child to browse!
Children these days love watching YouTube videos as well. Do you know what they are watching? Not to worry as FamiSafe also has a YouTube app control that enables you to monitor what your children are watching.
Famisafe also sends you instant alerts when suspicious text is sent to your child’s phone.
This is particularly useful as there are so many scam messages being sent. You would not want your child to fall into such traps or get enticed to be involved in any dangerous situations.
Also, as some of your children might still be very young, having a parental control app like FamiSafe also helps as they have a function which allows you to track your child’s real time location.
With this function, you will know if your children are going to dangerous places!
While you may get protests from your child stating that you are infringing on their privacy, you need not worry as surveys show that most kids understand and were in favour of parental controls!
Usage of antivirus for computers
Many of us actually overlook the usage of antivirus programmes on our computers. However, some of these antivirus programmes are actually very useful! They scan malicious sites when your children are using the internet so as to prevent them from clicking on potential viruses or malware. It also helps to secure passwords and important credentials so as to prevent phishing and other suspicious activities, so as to keep your important personal information intact.
So if you think that antivirus programmes are useless, do think again!
Conclusion
In this modern world, online dangers are increasing daily. Most times, parents do not know how to react then their children are exposed to these online dangers.
As a parent, you must convince yourself that it is important for yourself and your child to understand these online dangers. Using technology to fight technology, the usage of parental apps and antivirus programmes can help you to provide more protection for your child.
Always remember to have open discussions with your child about these online dangers, so that they will grow to be against these undesirable content and situations. Build trust so that they can come to you anytime for advice.
If you do not protect and educate your child on these dangers, who will?
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