Once or twice per week my daughter will bring up the fact that all of her friends have some type of social media account, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, in some cases they had all three. I don’t know about you, but something just doesn’t sit right with me about letting my 11-year-old online with unrestricted access to say or do whatever her (or his) heart desires. There is still a bit of learning that needs to happen there before giving off the reigns of that much freedom. So my and my wife’s accounts end up being the family accounts for all internet social access. We’ve even had to unfriend a few people because of the items that they post. Who wants their children seeing such things unfiltered?
Yes my kids, have access to all sorts of technology, tablets, laptops, game systems, online movie players, all of which are monitored and controlled to give security when needed. Even before letting your child run free on the internet a basic conversation is still needed
Jas Dhaliwal says it best in his blog post The next generation of cyber leaders – http://blogs.avg.com/community/cyber-security-month-future-generations/. He provides three tip to help keep your child safe while connected to the web.
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Teach your child that the internet is forever. Once you post it, it is there, and it is public record for the world to see/search/ and comment on.
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Talk to your child about Cyber-bullying. That’s right, in the classroom is not the only place you need to worry about bullying. Especially if you child has access to unmonitored social media.
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Teach your child about safe browsing habits. Talk to your children about what you believe is an appropriate site to visit, as well as what an inappropriate site is. Don’t assume your child knows what you are thinking.
Even for a techie like me, there is a line drawn when it comes to the safety of my kids. Something as simple as talking to you kids will not only keep them safe from predators, but it will also keep you child’s computing experience pleasant.
Corey Stokes 