What if your 12-year-old typed "TeenMagazine" into a search engine, but accidentally entered "TeenMagzine" instead. Harmless mistake right? Not necessarily. That one missed keystroke could direct your child to a website that lures kids to pornographic material.
Situations like these are why it's important for you to be an active part of what your child sees and hears, who they meet and what they share about themselves online.
Here are some of the steps you can take to help your child use the Internet safely.
Prepare your child to deal with potentially harmful situations by beginning the dialogue now. An open line of communication about the risks and hazards posed by the Internet will reduce your child’s risk of victimization.
Before your child connects to the Internet, let them know that their activities will be supervised. To better monitor your child’s Internet use, become familiar with what kind of information they’re sharing online and all of the online and mobile applications they use as well.
Teach your child the importance of having personal boundaries online. In order to recognize potentially dangerous situations, your child needs to understand what information should remain personal and why other Internet users might try to get a hold of it.
The Internet is evolving, and the activities youth undertake are constantly changing as well. While it can be difficult to keep up with online developments, you have to take a proactive approach to learning about what your children enjoy doing on the Internet.
It may seem overwhelming, but there is help. By combining your involvement with the tools listed below, you can help your child stay safe online. None of these tools will guarantee that your child will be safeguarded from 100% of the risks on the Internet, but these tools can definitely help.
Cybertip.ca recommends these online safety tools.
Anti-virus Software
Filtering Tools
Hardware Tools