Remember when research meant a day at the Library?

Nowadays, the answers to any question is at our fingertips. The younger generation is fortunate; the internet is a great tool for the pondering mind of a child. Kids can do incredible things with help from the internet, such as, build robots, learn to code, and get homework help.

However, the internet can be a dark, scary place. With the rise of sex trafficking, bullying, and hackers, parents are rightfully concerned.

How can children navigate the world wide web safely, while reaping the benefits?

Here are the Top 5 Ways to Keep Children Internet Safe:

  1. Talk about safely browsing. Start the conversation early, whenever your child starts using the internet. Talk to your children about strangers in real life and online. Share with your children that we don’t know if a stranger is good or bad and it is best to avoid strangers. Talk to your children about finding a trusted adult when a stranger makes contact. Also, discuss the importance of privacy. Reinforce that they should never share their name, school, or address for any reason online.
  2. Rules of the house. It is up to parents to set internet rules and follow through. If your child has a tablet for school, a phone, or any devise with internet capabilities, your child should ask permission before each use. During the evening, some families have a charging station and children must turn in all devices before bed. Also, desktop computers are best kept in a common room in the home and doors should remain open when your child uses a smaller device. Rules can be established at anytime and it is helpful to review the rules frequently.
  3. Know your children’s passwords, know where your child has access to the internet (like a friend’s house), and know why your child is online. It is a good idea to check any messages your child receives. If your child is old enough for social media, know who is on their friends list and what kinds of things those friends publish. Your child should know that you have all this information for their safety and that you do periodic checks.
  4. Watch them. Most of the time, children aren’t looking for trouble. Watch out for subtle ways unapproved content can reach your child. Content from advertisements, emails, and innocent Google searches are ways children can accidentally be exposed to harmful material. Parents should remain vigilant of their children’s internet activities.
  5. Clean Internet Filtering protection. The number one way to keep children internet safe is Clean Internet. This advanced software is designed to protect children from the many evils found online. With Clean Internet, websites are filtered for content such as adults only, tasteless/gross, profanity, nudity, and more. Parents can use Clean Internet to control what children are browsing and it also stops viruses. The easy to install, simple to use software monitors all online activities. Keeping children safe with Clean Internet is affordable; it costs just pennies a day. But, the peace of mind that your children are safe is priceless.