As parents, we generally do everything we possibly can to keep our children safe and well, right from getting them to ‘slip, slop, slap’ before going out in the sun,all the way to being careful when crossing a road and always wearing a helmet when cycling. But what necessary things are you doing to protect them from bullies, predators and inappropriate content online?
Let’s face it, the internet is here to stay and with a large per cent of Indian teens going online three or more times daily (and this is increasing with more and more teens having smartphones), it’s time, if you haven’t already, to introduce some useful and essential cyber safety know how to your parenting toolkit. Here’s ten helpful tips to get you started.
- Talk openly with your child about their online activity everyday
As soon as your child starts accessing the internet, talk to them about what they are reading, watching and who they are communicating with online even at preschools in trivandrum– and keep the conversation going as they grow older even. Asking your child what sites they visit or apps they use is effective whereas, write a list, and look at them together. Talk to your child about what you think is appropriate, and remind them that this may be different for other parents and their children at kids playschool.
Listen to your child and reach on an agreement about what is right for your family. Remember the time will come when they will access the internet outside the safety of your home or at kindergartens near me and you want them to be prepared for that.
It’s vital to teach them about their online reputation as well, and how they must be careful about how they behave, interact with people and represent themselves in such a public forum of playschools trivandrum. They must always remember that the internet isn’t a private at no manner.
- Keep screens and devices right where you can see them
Monitor your child’s time online at all times, particularly younger children. Keep the computer in a central spot in the living room of home where it’s easy to keep an eye on what your child is doing and viewing online. For mobile devices, you can set them to forget Wi-Fi passcodes so your children can not go online without your knowledge. You can also try to make sure that there are no tablets, laptops or gaming in bedrooms. Students need to be trained by teachers of the best preschool in trivandrum.
For younger children, you might also consider checking the browser histories after your child has gone online to see what sites they are visiting. This approach obviously gets harder as children grow older and work out how to clear histories – which is more reason to open the lines of communication about internet use at an early age of preschools.
- Know your parental controls
Innocent searches online by our innocent little ones can lead to not-so-innocent results, so it’s wise to know how to use the parental controls/search restrictions offered by web browsers, internet service provider and devices at international schools in kerala. For example, the SafeSearch Filters feature on Google will block sites with any explicit sexual material. To turn it on, you can go to Settings/SafeSearch Filters. Although not 100 per cent accurate, parental controls can help prevent your child from seeing and accessing most violent or sexual material at home or at best playschool.
- Know who your children’s online friends are
As adults, we have the capability to know that some people online aren’t who they say they are, but children and young people can be alarmingly naïve about who they are chatting with if they are not taught to be cyber wise from the early age of their’s in the best preschool trivandrum.
Make sure you become friends and contacts within your child’s all social media circles and ensure you monitor posts. Your children may resist but tell them that is one of the conditions for you to allow them access after preschool admission.
- Be ‘share aware’ to protect your privacy
If your child is a regular user of from kids school in trivandrum some social networks, they must be aware of the risk of personal information or images being made public once they post it. While they won’t fully understand about all the consequences of revealing personal information online, you should teach them to be cautious and thoughtful about what they post and share online. Encourage your children to ask themselves before posting anything if the information (i.e. name, phone number, home address, email, name of school) or photo is something they would give to any stranger. If the answer is no, do not post it.
If your child is sharing photos or posts online, ask your child to let you see what they are sharing or ask an older sibling or anyone from montessori training to check any photos before they’re shared right away.
- Keep control of your family’s digital footprint
Every picture and personal detail that is posted and shared on social media and the internet contributes to someone’s digital footprint in some manner for montessori teacher training. The big risk with this is that once information is shared publicly, it can be used in ways you may not expect to come and cannot control. You should also assume that anything that is put online is permanent though it can sometimes be deleted but not always before others have seen it and saved it. For this reason, children as well as young people need to be smart about protecting their images and information. The same goes for parents or teachers of preschool teacher training who regularly post pictures of their children’s online.
Teach your child to stay in control of their digital footprint thereby only sharing with people who they know and trust. Rather than posting to all their friends on social media, encourage them by teacher training in trivandrum to be selective and use the privacy settings on the social media platforms they use.
- Teach your children to keep their location private
Most apps, networks and devices possess geo-tagging features which make your whereabouts public and can lead someone directly to you. These features should be turned off for obvious privacy and safety reasons too. Digital photos also contain metadata (information about the time, date and GPS coordinates) which may reveal more then you might want to. Some social media platforms automatically hide or remove this data, but not all, so do your homework in ttc kerala and know how much info you’re sharing.
- Keep track of online time
The national organizations based on students welfare recommend children between the age of five and 17 should have no more than two hours of screen time a day. So, it’s important to monitor your child’s online time, particularly younger children, to ensure they do not develop the bad habits while cultivating good ones from preschools in trivandrum. Get your children to agree on a period of time, say for example 30 minutes per session, and set a timer to go off – don’t forget to make this a non-negotiable finish time for any reasons.
You should also switch off the home Wi-Fi at a set time each night (ideally before bedtime) so everyone has some ‘time-out’ from the internet at home and at kindergartens near me. You can also try making some days ‘screen-free’ in your home to encourage everyone to pursue other more active and/or less technology-driven ways to entertain themselves in effective ways.
- Be #SocialNetworkSavvy
Educate yourself on ways to be safe on social networks so that you can give the best advice to your children that way at kids playschool even. Sign up to the social networks and apps your children are using and find out how to use the privacy settings and reporting mechanisms as well. Try talking about how they can stay safe on social networks from playschools trivandrum even, including talking to a trusted person when they are worried, and being aware of what constitutes online bullying – both as a perpetrator and a victim.
If your child uses social networks, be sure they know how to:
- Report inappropriate and/or offensive posts
- Block someone
- Keep information private.
- Lead by example
Lead by example and always model the kind of positive online behaviour you would like your children to use always. If they see you being cautious and respectable when you are online, they are more likely to follow in your very footsteps. And, yes, this includes limiting your own screen time too.
Ultimately, you don’t want to instil fear in your child or prevent them from experiencing the many educational, entertainment, social and other benefits of the internet, but rather give them the skills and knowledge they need to know how to make the most of it and avoid the dangers at home and at best preschool in trivandrum. Ultimately you must talk with your children about the online threats in a way that they’ll understand. The Internet poses real risks for children and teens, but parents can help them make informed decisions that keep them safe online in different ways too.
Here are six ways to talk about Internet safety with your children.
1. Set the Ground Rules
Before handing a computer or mobile device to your children, you should have an age-appropriate discussion about what they should and should not do over it at international schools in kerala.
First, set limits on the online time. When their time online is not idle, there’s a smaller chance of drifting into undesirable parts of the web for them in preschools too.
Tell your children to talk with you just before sharing information like their names or address or speaking with someone they meet online at best play school. They should tell you right away if they see something that upsets or scares them in any manner.
Treating others online how they’d want to be treated themselves like is an equally important value to teach your kids. Anonymity on the web can cause anyone to say cruel things they normally wouldn’t — even children here. If they help make the web a better place, they’ll be happier in best preschool trivandrum.
2. Talk About How — and Why — You Will Monitor Their Online Use
As children get older and join social networks, be upfront about monitoring what they post and why you’re doing it online from home or after preschool admission. Even teenagers may not fully understand the long-term impact of their posts when they post, or that the Internet never forgets. They should be aware that you’re looking out for them, not trying to get them in trouble in so many ways taught from kids school in trivandrum.
It can rather be a tough tightrope to walk when you’re trying to keep your kids safe without making them feel like you don’t trust them that way. Set boundaries and discuss situations in which you may need to cross them in international playschool kerala.
If you find that your way of monitoring is causing conflicts, you may open to trying something new. Remind your children that their safety is your primary concern, but don’t be afraid to give them a little freedom as they get older in their times even at best kindergarten in trivandrum.
Parental control software, such as Kaspersky Safe Kids offers way easier solutions to monitor and manage your children online activity.
3. Talk About What’s Going on in Their Lives
Open lines of communication are critical in so many aspects of parenting — and with online safety in particular. That’s because cyberbullying is like something that is the real-world counterpart. It’s often something kids don’t want to mention because they fear they’ll get in trouble or lose their Internet access at homes and preschool near me.
Make it clear you’re interested in almost all areas of your kids’ lives. Also make sure they know they can come to you with any problems they’re having too. Actively listen during regular conversations to show your kids that you’re always there for them, no matter what’s going on withthem in kindergartens trivandrum.
4. Teach Kids How to Take Action Themselves
Show your kids that they can take steps to be proactive online by teaching them how to use the privacy, reporting and blocking functions on the sites they visit from a montessori training school.
Older kids may know more about the online world than yours. Consider making them the experts and having them show you the safety features of the sites they are frequent at.
5. Involve Kids in Decision-Making
Like all parenting conversations, talks about online safety should be learning experiences, rather not one-sided lectures.
Ask what they think about what they’re seeing online and whether it’s potentially dangerous. If they disagree, listen to why — and be prepared to respond. Even if they don’t like the rules, kids of montessori teacher training are more likely to follow them if they believe they played a part in setting them.
6. Don’t Forget the Positive
It’s important not to make the entire Internet seem like a scary place to avoid at all costs all times.
Help set the stage for responsible online behavior at preschool teacher training by talking about the ways the Internet can help with schoolwork and pursuing other interests too. Kids follow the examples of their parents in many seen and unseen recognizable ways. Sharing examples of how you use the Internet responsibly can send a much stronger message than implementing rules and restrictions at their teacher training in trivandrum schools.