Think it’s still the Wild West out there on the internet? In many ways, you’d be right: Literally thousands of new services, apps and social networks go online (as do as many high-tech devices) with each passing year. Luckily, as many parents who’ve grown up alongside technology can attest, if you teach your kids a few simple safety and privacy habits, the ability to connect with others worldwide can be a positive and uplifting part of childhood and everyday household life.
Scott Steinberg, author of the recently released book “Parenting High-Tech Kids: The Ultimate Internet, Web & Online Safety Guide” has put together a Top 10 List of ways to keep kids safe online.
Click here for the Kindle version of the book.
10 Ways to Keep Your Kids Safe Online
- Homework is for parents, too: Always study, research and go-hands on with new technologies to make more informed decisions and keep up with new hardware, software or feature updates.
- If time’s tight, get a crash course on new offerings, trends and features by visiting popular product review sites or searching for online tutorials, e.g. “How to Turn Off iPhone Purchases.”
- Besides employing kid-friendly software, apps and web filters, educate children on online dangers and encourage them to speak up when questionable content or situations are encountered.
- Use the parental controls built into popular entertainment devices, video game consoles and operating systems, and don’t forget to password-protect your settings—but don’t employ easily guessable choices like birthdays and anniversaries.
- Activate privacy features built into popular social networks to limit strangers’ access to personal status updates, photos and videos. Don’t assume they’re set appropriately by default.
- Confine screens to common household areas such as playrooms and dens, so usage and play habits can be monitored.
- Establish predetermined times when usage of high-tech devices is permitted or banned (e.g. during dinner), and always shut screens off at least one hour before bedtime.
- Create and enforce house rules: Experts recommend no more than 60-120 minutes of screen time daily, balanced with other low-tech activities. Some families add or subtract time as a reward or punishment for children’s behavior.
- If you’re worried about kids’ online interactions, use programs’ and devices’ built-in features to turn off internet connectivity, disable digital purchases and restrict interactions to pre-approved friend lists.
- Talk about safe online spending, and if you allow kids to make purchases, consider restricting these abilities to prepaid cards.