With the current epidemic situation, online learning is almost a must for any school-age child. Being constantly at home and being dependent on Internet-connected devices increases your child’s risk of exposure to harmful content and behavior on the Internet.
Understanding that, CyberPurify had analyzed for you 5 UNICEF-backed internet safety for kids!
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5 UNICEF-backed internet safety for kids!
Keep your child safe by communicating continuously and openly
Talking is considered one of the best ways for children to be self-aware and proactive to stay away from dangers on the Internet. This is about both a foundation and a catalyst for building meaningful and close relationships between parents and children.
That’s why you need to have an honest conversation with your child about the risks on the Internet that they may face, such as:
- Online sexual attackers: who and how they target the victims.
- Inappropriate online content such as pornographic, adult images/videos and content that haunts and scares children like gore, accidents, murder, etc.
- Online scams, phishing, etc.
- Risky behaviors that children and teens usually commit: sexting, online bullying, sharing too much on social media, etc.
If your child experiences any of these, encourage him or her to tell you or a trusted adult right away. Besides, you also need to be on the lookout if your child is upset with online activities or if they are being threatened online.
Common mistake is that parents are too optimistic, thereby over-believing that their child will never commit any dangerous behavior.
You CANNOT KNOW anything, especially when the child’s brain is not fully developed, he/she is extremely easily influenced by external factors and it is difficult to distinguish the consequences by pressure from friends, KOLs, influencers on social media, as well as from trends on TikTok or other unhealthy content online in general!
In addition, you should also help your child establish rules about how, when, and where to use online devices to better ensure a balance in usage time.
Use technology to ensure cyber safe
One of the MUST-HAVE remote learning tips for parents!
You should regularly check that your child’s device is running the latest anti-virus software and programs, has privacy settings turned on, and always tells them to keep their personal information private and to be careful before providing information to any third party from software, programs, and especially strangers.
Another internet safety tip for middle school students is to keep the webcam covered when not in use.
To help maintain a positive online learning and playing experience, you should use the tools available to you to set up parental controls on your child’s device to filter harmful content, limit the use of device use, or some other features for children such as no in-app purchases.
- How to set up parental controls on Macbook
- How to block porn sites on Google Chrome
- How to block porn sites on Safari
- Set up parental controls for Microsoft Edge
- Set up parental controls for Youtube
However, with the spread of harmful content (especially pornography) by the second, by the minute, and by creeping into websites that have nothing to do with pornography, these built-in features of devices and platforms are not enough.
To ensure your child’s online environment is safe and healthier, you should consider using an additional online content filtering tool – considered by many parents as one of the best free parental control software to hide 15 types of harmful content on the Internet, including:
- Pornography
- Horrifying content like gore, accidents, ghosts, violence, murder, terrorism, etc
- Content about stimulants, addictive substances such as alcohol, beer, marijuana, drugs, etc
- Content with aggressive elements, hurting others like Hate speech
This free porn blocker extension can help to minimize your child’s access to harmful content, ensuring a healthy online environment for your child but at the same time, not invading their privacy rights.
Here is a display showing CyberPurify Kids blocks porn sites!
Go online with your kids
Spending time online with your kids is also one of the most important internet safety tips for tweens to identify age-appropriate apps, games, and other forms of online entertainment.
Going online with your child also helps parents stay up-to-date with the websites, apps, and online chat services that their children or children of their age use to better understand current trends, both on the good side and bad side.
Having a better understanding of what they watch, what they’re doing, and why they like this app, game or website, and provide a great opportunity to start conversations about online safety.
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From there, you can cleverly integrate life lessons learned from movies, while making sure what your child sees is appropriate for his or her age.
What is more important is the family relationships are getting stronger.
CyberPurify publishes a blog weekly with specialized topics on Internet safety for online learning, helping parents understand the dangers and risks on the Internet, thereby communicating with their children more effectively.
Encourage healthy online habits
Parents also need to actively guide their children to develop digital intelligence on the Internet – because skills in behavior and communication in the virtual world are equally important to the real world out there, especially when Children have to rely heavily on the Internet to learn, play and connect during the pandemic.
One of the important digital skills is to educate children on how to communicate and express their thoughts with others via the Internet as effectively as when they communicate face-to-face, be polite and sympathetic with friends (although they may have contradicted views to your child’s), be mindful of what your child wears and avoid video calls while in the bedroom.
Parents should also be proactive and familiarize themselves with school policies and helplines for reporting inappropriate online content or cyberbullying.
Let your kids have fun and express themselves
Spending time at home can be a great opportunity for your child to use their voice online to share their views and support those struggling during this crisis.
You can learn more about the digital skill – Empowerment skill when using social media to help your child develop your child’s autonomy and self-determination in the community.
With the help of digital technology and social media, Digital Empowerment skill allows your child to participate in a responsible and self-determined way, leading the way for positive change in their community and the world.
Encourage your child to take advantage of digital tools that help get up and moving, such as online kids’ exercise videos and physically demanding video games. Remember to balance online entertainment with offline activities, including time outside, if possible.
Reference: UNICEF
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