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VPGuvnor – The internet today is such a significant part of everyone’s life, none much more so than children. They spend so long chatting with friends or playing games, and if parents are lucky, they might be doing their homework.
It is a fact though that no matter what your child is doing while online they are continually under threats from many various sources.
Following a few easy steps, a responsible parent can help to protect their little ones a little bit better than doing nothing at all.
Educating of the Dangers
It has been said if a child is old enough to use the internet they are old enough to know the risks they face. This being said, education of your child should not include any scare tactics or this part of your education could lead them to become that little bit more inquisitive.
Setting Boundaries
Younger children should have limits to how long they are able to spend online. This would also include the times they are allowed to access the internet as well as how much social media they are allowed to use.
When children are in their rooms, it is hard for parents to know what they are doing so if they use a mobile device. It is easy for parents to restrict access to the internet for younger children through a kid-safe browser. This will prevent any adult content being viewed accidentally on purpose.
Parental Controls
Many operating systems can have this built into them, to a certain degree. It is also possible to purchase software packages that can do everything from one central point. One of the first steps is to create a separate account for your child which is different to everyone else’s.
These software packages can help prevent installation of malware and follows on from antivirus software. Other things which can be set from here are something a little more straightforward like YouTube restricted mode which blocks the chances of any adult content being seen.
Securing their Connections
Children have access to many mobile devices, and when they are away from home, they frequently use hot-spots to connect to the internet. This opens up other areas where they are vulnerable as these areas are rife with online predators or hackers.
One of the best ways for them to remain safe in public places is by the installation of a free VPN service which can be ideal for limited internet usage.
Cyberbullying and Online Predators
Social media is an excellent way for children to keep in contact with their friends. It is also a place which is full of people who take advantage of all these children using the service.
To this extent, these predators often create accounts and pretend to be someone who they are not.
This is where a parent should warn children about strangers online and tell them never to meet a person they don’t know.
This can still be hard as if a child is young they might be inclined to offer a stranger a bit too much personal information regarding their movements and their schooling
Monitoring Online Activity
The last thing a parent wishes to do it keep watching over their children while they are online. This can cause friction as many children think they are not being trusted in their actions.
Although they can restrict access to some things, some of the better ones have other features, activity monitoring (Net Nanny) which monitors your child’s activity.
In a way it is spying on what your child is doing, although it can be set to send email alerts should anything attempted to be accessed or downloaded which is prohibited.
This market leader can also monitor inside social media, so if your child is threatened or approached by an online predator it would be spotted, and you could be made aware.
Quick Fixes
Apart from the above, a parent can quickly put things into place which will help protect your child while they are online.
Many browsers (not including kid safe) can install add-ons which can block adverts, prevent tracking sites and can also delete your child’s browsing history once they have finished.
This last item prevents any cookies remaining on their device which is a hacker did manage to get hold of could glean information that way.
On mobile devices, the current leader is Firefox Focus which comes with many of these features built in.
Tracking, ad-blocking, and deletion are all there after installation. It is as if your child is browsing the internet while no one is watching which can only be a good thing.
