How to keep your kids safe when online
Cyberbullying is one of the biggest, safety issues facing young people
today. Bullying and harassment online are now commonplace. For
instance, over a third of teenage girls, have been sexually harassed via the
Internet.
The emergence of social media sites has seen cyber bullying go to a new
level. Messages and images can now spread like wildfire reaching a huge
potential audience in the time it takes to upload an image or shoot off a
text message.
Once the family home offered young people an escape from schoolyard
bullies. Now the cyber world is so invasive that their bedrooms offer no
guarantees of safety anymore.
The cyber world is enticing. Young people have always wanted to escape
from their parents' world. In the past, they hung out in shopping centers
and pool halls. Parents tried their best to keep an eye on where their
children were and what they were doing.
The online world is now the shopping mall of the 21st Century. Parents
have the same responsibility to help kids stay safe in the online world as
they do in the real world. 'Stranger danger' and accompanying safe
behaviors are just as relevant in the online world as they are in the real
world.
Parents should use the same offline preventative strategies to maximize
their children's online safety as they’ve always used. These strategies
include: teaching children about the right way to behave online; don't let
they spend all night in the cyber world; ask questions about what
they are doing and where they go when they're online.
Parents need to remind kids that things in the online world can spin out of
control very quickly. A written message or an image can be circulated
electronically so rapidly that the scope and scale of cyber bullying can be
greater than any other form of bullying.
The following seven key messages form the basis of an online safety
strategy for kids. They should be taught to kids so they become second
nature, just as the messages about stranger danger were absorbed by an
earlier generation.
1. Respect others.
Make kids aware that what they send can offend.
Discuss with kids the types of messages and images that can cause harm
to others when sent. Teenagers often walk a fine line with what they do
and say to each other offline, yet it’s relatively harmless. The same type of
behavior online, however, can be a different story.
2. Think before you send.
Remind kids cyberspace is a very public and
permanent forum. A text message or image sent to just one person can be
passed to a potentially unlimited number. Once they are sent they’re
almost impossible to erase and take back
.
3. Treat online passwords like your house key.
Teach kids to keep
passwords guarded at all times. Young people can be incredibly trusting of
each other, which is to be encouraged. However, there are some things,
such as online passwords that they don’t share, not even with their best
friend.
4. Block bullies. Teach kids to block bullying messages. They can filter out
messages and addresses online. Similarly, they can block text messages from
5. Don't reply to harassment.
Bullies can retain proof of your response,
which can further be spread around. Besides responding to bullying
behavior often simply encourages the bully to continue
.
6. Save the evidence.
If kids are bullied they should keep the pictures and
offending messages. These can be used as proof if the bullies are brought
to justice.
7. Tell someone.
The insidious part of bullying is that kids on the receiving
end often don’t seek help, as they think there’s something wrong with
them. Talk with kids about going to a trusted adult, when they feel their
rights or safety have been violated. They should with your help report
online bullying to the appropriate service provider.
Sticking the proverbial head in the sand regarding kids' use of
communications technology is no longer an option for parents. Savvy
parents need to learn as much as they can about children's and young
people's online lives so they can respond to situations appropriately.
these seven ways can help you in keeping your kids safe when online from hackers and bullies. thanks for reading and sharing...