Internet has become a necessity today for everyone, however, when it comes to children, we need to be extra careful. In this digital age, you can’t keep children away from internet but what you can do is supervise, and teach them to use it responsibly. To be able to do this, parents must have proper knowledge themselves. Here’s a parent’s guide to help them understand safe internet practices for kids.
Why Internet Safety Is Important for Children?
Today, children have easy access to digital devices which means they can use it for games, learning and social applications. While internet has a lot to offer, it can lead to scams, cyber-bullying and screen addiction. There are a lot of sites that share inappropriate content for children.
When not used in the right manner, it can cause anxiety leading to sleep disturbance in children. It is important that children use internet under parent’s guidance so that they can make the most of this facility.
What Are the Risks Involved?
There are different types of risks involved when children use internet, let’s read about these.
- Personal Information Disclosure: Children don’t understand to what extent they must be sharing information about themselves. Sharing personal information with strangers can be dangerous.
- Connecting with Harmful Strangers: Connecting with strangers whom you don’t know can be harmful for children. There might be people who are misrepresenting themselves.
- Inappropriate Content: There might be content which is not appropriate for children. Getting exposed to such content can lead to scams, phishing, or cyber-bullying.
- Excessive Screen Time: Children are likely to get addicted to social media, games and videos which is harmful for them and can cause anxiety, lack of concentration, and poor sleep.
- Digital Footprint: It is important that parents keep an eye on what their children are following. What they see now can continue appear as suggestions because internet keeps a track.
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How Internet Impacts Children?
Internet is a window to the outside world; it connects your children globally. There are many things online which are not good for children and can cause negative long-term effect on their personality. Let’s read about how it impacts children.
- Emotional & Mental Health: There are many online crimes that revolve around children such as cyber-bullying, and abuse which can cause anxiety in children.
- Reduced Social Interaction: When children get addicted to screen, and internet, they are likely to spend less time in real-world. Physical activity is reduced, concentration is hampered and they lose the chance of making great friends.
- Physical Health: If the child does not know how to sit properly while using digital devices, it can lead to eye strain, poor body posture, and disrupted sleep.
- Effect on Academics & Future: When used in the right manner, internet is a boon but negative digital habits can affect school performance and snatch best opportunities.
- Safety & Privacy Concerns: It is essential that one is cautious while sharing personal information as there are chances of theft.
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How Parents Can Keep Their Children Safe Online?
In today’s digital age, keeping your children safe while using internet has become a challenge. However, there are certain ways following which you can safeguard your child.
A. Family Rules
Set rules for everyone in the family when it comes to internet usage. Fix time as to how long and when devices can be used and when they must be kept aside. Allow safe sites or applications for usage and avoid those which appear harmful. Keep some zones of your house device free where you can have healthy conversation with each other.
B. Use Devices in Shared Spaces
You must keep the device in shared spaces as this helps in keeping a check on what your child is doing. This allows you to see without interfering in what they are doing.
C. Use Parental Controls
There is a parental control feature which you can make use of to avoid your children from getting on to wrong platforms. You can use applications, built-in controls or routers to safeguard your children online. There are filters that can be applied to get only age-appropriate content.
D. Communicate Often
You should maintain a friendly relationship with your children so that they can come to you in case of need. Have regular conversations with them so that they can share with you what they do online and you can teach them how to remain safe.
E. Teach Safe Internet Practices
Ask your children to use strong password and login credentials online. Let them think twice before they post something online. They should be made aware about fraudsters, abusers and cyber bullying so that they can recognize when they come across something like that. Avoid clicking on any suspicious link, or messages.
One of the best decisions that parents can take for their children is choosing the right school for them. Tagore Public School is the best CBSE school in Jaipur where children are taught safe internet practices in school so that they can make the most out of it without getting harmed.
