KIDS SEARCH ENGINE
Help to keep kids safe online
Kids Online Safety Guide
Your kids online safety depends on how much input you dedicate towards ensuring they are at minimal risk. This includes talking to them frequently about their interests in the internet, and the risks involved, as well as putting up some repressive measures without letting them feel like they're being watched.
Things Children Do Online
There's no worse time to be a parent than now when social networking seems to have taken over the internet. Children engage with the internet for various reasons:
- Use social sites like Facebook and Twitter.
- Participate in educative forums.
- Play online games with other users.
- Chat with other internet users via games apps and other tools like Whatsapp.
- Share photos and videos via social websites like Instagram, Vine, and YouTube.
- Search for information on search engines for educational purposes or to satisfy their curiosity.
Regardless of the reason, using the internet always comes with dangers. However, by understanding these hazards and involving children in discussions about them, you're setting up a platform for kids' online safety.
The Dangers that Kids are Exposed to while Online
As much as there's constructive and helpful content online, there's also explicit and damaging content in equal measure. Children should be provided with an online safety guide to minimize risks when using the web. Kids and teenagers face the following dangers:
- Explicit content such as pornography.
- Images encouraging child abuse.
- Incitement content for rebellion.
- Violence and racist material.
- Emotional cons.
- Cyber criminals.
It's easy for kids and young people to fall prey to cyber tricks used by criminals to drain personal accounts or download malware unknowingly.
Online Safety Tips for Kids
Engaging children in regular discussions is an effective way to ensure their safety when using the internet. Additionally, parental controls can be used to monitor and filter what your child can access. Denying them the use of a Smartphone or a laptop is serious and will only increase their curiosity, making things worse in the long run.
Talk to the kids early and often: Children find intriguing things online and can spend more and more time on the web. Keep checking on them to understand what they find fun and relevant, allowing you to take preemptive measures to keep them on the right track.
Explore together: Just as you engage your children in their homework and house chores, partner with them to explore the web pages they like. This will give you an idea of what they're doing online during their free time.
Find out who is talking to your child:Kids can be overly trusting, making it hard to convince them that their online friends might not be who they claim to be. Politely explain to them that everyone they meet online is a stranger until proven otherwise.
Agree on online limits: Depending on your child's age, establish ground rules regarding online usage, including time limits, permitted websites, and guidelines for sharing personal information.
Use parental advisory settings:Utilize technology to control your child's access to unsuitable content through parental control settings on laptops and smartphones.
Teach them how to use reporting tools: Ensure your child knows what to do when they encounter disturbing information or messages online. Encourage open communication about such situations.
Online Safety Guide is Essential to both Parents and Kids
Children are often lured into befriending total strangers through social networking sites and online games, making them vulnerable to sharing sensitive personal information. Grooming and sexual exploitation cases have been reported worldwide, where innocent kids fall prey to online pretenders disguised as friends. Privacy controls can limit who views your child's details, but once they become friends, these details can no longer be hidden. Similarly, some game apps request personal information before allowing play, which can end up in the hands of strangers. To avoid this, help your child disable their GPS or adjust their device tracking settings.
Cyber-swindling cases have become common, with the most notorious method being through sharing sensitive information like PayPal or Credit Card details. Kids may unknowingly give away information after being enticed with irresistible prizes, especially when playing online games.