When was the last time you sat down and asked your child what they were doing online? Most parents don’t have a clue what their children are doing when they’re not watching, but that’s OK because some people might not know how dangerous the Internet can be. Today is the day you finally have to accept you don’t have any excuses left. I’m here to tell you, only if you don’t already know, that going online is very dangerous for children unless their parents do things to make it safer for them.
When you eventually get old and look back on your life you don’t want to remember that time your child was bullied, harmed, or stalked because you did nothing about it. Children are innocent when they’re born and they should be kept that way until they’re old enough to look after themselves and make their own choices. You’re going to learn a few things you can start doing today to guarantee they stay safe. You’re the person they are counting on.
You hold the keys
Have you any idea how many young people have their own social networking account? There’s millions of them and they have no business being on there until they get to a certain age. Even then it’s pretty scary to think what can happen. There’s probably not a worse place in the world for bullying because you know what people are like online. You need to have their password so you can see exactly who they’re friends with and what they are doing when on there.
Spy on them
A lot of parents use keylogging software because it takes an impression of everything their child does online. It means they can come along once their child isn’t there and they can see exactly what’s been happening. Sometimes it’s good to keep on top of what’s going on because you never know when it will get too far. If your child is not happy with all their activity being spied on you can tell them to leave the Internet until they’ve left home.
Show them the dangers
Most children don’t watch the news and they certainly don’t have any ideas of the danger that lurks out there. They are innocent and think everyone is nice. You don’t want to spoil their view of the world, but you do need to let them know it’s not all dancing fairies and chocolate cakes. When they know there is a danger they can avoid it, especially if they can see it coming. Nobody can protect themselves from an invisible danger.
Sitting with them
When they are online you could sit with them and you’ll know exactly what they’re doing. This won’t be a problem if they’re not doing anything they would want to keep a secret. If you don’t always want to waste your time sitting around then maybe they have an older sibling who could do the duty. While they are there they could also speak to them and teach them how to use the Internet safely because they might have had to learn the hard way.
Privacy when young
Have you heard about any celebrities that were annoyed because someone was taking a photo of their child to splash all over the newspapers? The reason they were so upset is because children have no business splashing their private date or photos about anywhere. Don’t let them put up photos until they are old enough because you hear of boys asking them to go too far. They shouldn’t even mention their date-of-birth online because that’s what some people will be looking for.
Attached Images:
-  License: Creative Commons image source
-  License: Creative Commons image source
