Internet Safety for Kids

Internet safety for kids depends on parents being aware of online risks and understanding how to help their children and teens avoid them.

Almost every American child and teen has access to the internet. They socialize in online games or on smartphones just as they would on a playground. They live largely in a digital community. But like any community, there are risks and dangers.

Parents are the best suited to monitor kids’ online activity. They are also the most trusted adults most kids will turn to if they experience online dangers. Understanding what your children or teens do online is vital to protecting them from digital threats.

Ninety-five percent of teens have access to a smartphone, and 45 percent of teens say they are online “almost constantly,” according to the Pew Research Center.

Even younger kids are accessing the internet in large numbers. Roughly two-thirds of fourth to eighth graders have access to phones or tablets. And almost half of them have a computer in their bedrooms, according to the 2016 Children’s Internet Usage Study conducted by the Center for Cyber Safety and Education.

Teaching your children about the online risks they may face and how to avoid or report threats is one of the most important steps you can take to ensure their safety online.

But first, you have to understand those risks for yourself. This means keeping up-to-date on the latest technologies, apps and social media trends. It can be challenging, but it better prepares you to talk to your kids about what to expect online.

You’ll also need to keep an open dialog with your kids. Let them know you are looking out for their safety and be sure to listen to their questions and concerns.

An open conversation can help them feel comfortable talking with you even about uncomfortable things they later encounter online. It will also help you better understand how your children use the internet.

Let children know they can talk with their parents, teachers or other trusted adults when they stumble onto online content that makes them feel scared or uncomfortable.

Setting clearly defined rules and explaining the reason for each rule and the hazard it protects against can help your child understand potential risks. Rules for your child should aim to protect online privacy, safety and personal information.

You may even ask your child or teen to sign an online safety contract. The contract can be a chance to teach your kid about online risks and how to respond to them. Contracts can also jumpstart a conversation about the boundaries you want to set for the way in which your child uses the internet.

Keep the conversation open and ongoing as your child gets older with the promise of more rights and responsibilities as he or she grows.

You can take an active role in protecting your kids from online risks. Much of it is monitoring how they use the internet and how they access it. Some of it can be as simple as helping them set up their online access.

When you give your child a smartphone or tablet for the first time, use it as a teaching opportunity. Show your child how to set up strong passwords and set new rules for who can and can’t download apps. You may want to limit that to yourself until your child is older.

Also make sure your children don’t open any social media accounts or download social media apps until they are at least 13 years old. That’s not just a safety tip, it’s the law. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule was passed in 1998 to protect kids’ online privacy.

Make it clear if you will be monitoring their online activity, tracking their browsing history and keeping a copy of their passwords. Spying on your children’s online activity without telling them first can undermine their trust in you.

You can find technology that will help you monitor what your child sees on the internet, filter out inappropriate web content and track what your child does online. There is a wide selection of options from software you can buy to features built into your internet browser.

But remember that these are simply extra tools. They won’t replace open communication between you and your child.

You can track the websites your kids visit online by checking their browsing history. Browsers keep a list of sites that have been visited. Go to the browser on their computer or phone and click on “History” to see the list of sites that have been visited.

Be aware that your kids may delete their browser history. If that happens, it may be a sign they have visited a site they shouldn’t have. This should be part of your discussion when you set out rules with your child.

New apps, such as iPhone’s Screen Time, allow you to set time limits on how long your child or teen may access a specific app each day.

Filters can limit which internet sites and content your children can view online. These are designed to weed out inappropriate content.

Contact the company that provides your internet service to ask about any internet filters it provides. These can let you control what different devices can see on the internet.

Turn on “SafeSearch” in Google Search and Google Images on your kids’ devices. This will filter out most, but not all, adult and other inappropriate search results.

Beyond these options, you can buy and install parental control software. Some can be placed on individual devices while others can create filters for all the devices on your home network. Prices range from around $15 to $100.

You can also find parental control apps designed specifically for your child’s phone or tablet. Simply search for them where you download apps. Prices for these may range from $10 to $30. These can restrict what apps your children use, track their smartphone browsing and prevent them from changing passwords without your permission.

Your child’s first smartphone is another opportunity to discuss online safety. But smartphones also come with added risks.

Make sure your children understand that a smartphone is personal and no one else should use it. Sharing their phone can expose private information or allow someone to impersonate them online. Let your children know how this can damage their reputation if someone sends or posts an inappropriate text, comment or photo.

Also talk about the long-term damage to their reputation certain spur of the moment comments or photos can have once they’re posted online. Teach them to think carefully about how others may see or interpret their posts.

Make sure your children understand the importance of disconnecting from their smartphone. Constant screen time can disrupt sleep patterns and distract their attention from what’s going on around them.

Let them know that being on their phone when around other people can be impolite. Putting away the phone during meals, in the car or when hanging out with friends shows respect to the people around them.

A smartphone can be a good starting point to teaching teen driving safety when your teen starts to drive. Distracted driving killed 3,166 people in 2017, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Texting has been a growing cause of distracted driving-related crashes.

Download apps that disable texting and talking while in the car. Many will let you decide which other apps will function while the car is in motion.

Understanding the social media sites your teens frequent can help you understand the content and connections they’re exposed to. Following or friending your teens on these sites can help you keep an eye on their social media activity.

Practically every American teen uses some form of social media, according to surveys by the Pew Research Center.

Teens credit social media for making new friends, strengthening existing friendships and exposing them to an increasingly diverse world. Thirty-one percent of teens have a mostly positive view of social media, according to the Pew Research Center.

At the same time, the center says teens worry that social media increases the drama in their lives and they feel like they are under greater social pressure.

But there are also risks they may not even think of on these sites. Before your teens sign up for any social media platform, you can help them understand these dangers so they can have a safer and more enjoyable social media experience.

You should teach your child not only about how to respond to cyberbullying, but also how not to become a bully.

Kids and teens socialize online and on their smartphones just like they do in person. Teach your child to behave online just as they would in person and the risk of cyberbullying goes down.

Nearly 60 percent of American teens report having been cyberbullied, according to the Pew Research Center. A majority also consider cyberbullying a major problem. The Pew Research Center also found that teens believe teachers, social media platforms and politicians are failing at dealing with the problem.

The Pew Research Center found that similar numbers of girls and boys fall victim to cyberbullying, but girls were more likely to be victimized by false rumors and nonconsensual explicit messages.

Nearly six in 10 parents worry about their teens being cyberbullied, according to the Pew Research Center. Most believe they can teach their teens how to handle the problem. But teens won’t always tell their parents.

That means adults need to know the signs that their teens are being cyberbullied.

Most kids think their parents do the best job of any adults in helping them deal with cyberbullies. Teens ranked them well above law enforcement, teachers and social media sites, according to the Pew Research Center.

Parents have to take an active role to help their children. The National Center on Missing and Exploited Children recommends you teach your children to not respond to cyberbullies, save the evidence and report it to the app or website.

You should also meet with school administrators to discuss the schools bullying and cyberbullying policy and ask for a plan of action. You should also discuss the situation with the bully’s parents or guardians.

And remind your children that it’s their responsibility to report if they know someone is being cyberbullied.

Most teens will never take, send or post explicit pictures of themselves. But you need to explain the consequences of doing so. Sharing an explicit image of a minor is a crime.

Simply having such an image on their phone or computer could lead to child pornography charges, a serious crime that could leave them branded as a sexual predator for life in some states.

You should discuss the dangers of sexting in a calm and relaxed setting. Ask what your teen knows about sexting and explain your thoughts on it calmly. Ask your child to consider how it might feel if someone spread explicit or intimate photos of him or her.

Online gaming is a social experience for kids. Online games allow people to play against other people around the country or world. Players may be connected with chat, text, headsets, microphones or video cameras.

Trash talking other players online can be a part of that experience, but sometimes it can go too far.

Taking an active interest in your kids’ games, understanding how they’re played, and why your kids like them can help you better understand what you can do to keep your kids safe while gaming.

If your child is threatened or runs into illegal activity online, you should report it to local or federal law enforcement immediately. You can call your local police department for threats directed personally at your child.

You should call the nearest office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for certain threats or crimes your child may see online.

If your child is approached by an online predator or comes across an illegal website targeting children and teens, you can report it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s website at CyberTipline.com. The center will forward your information to the proper law enforcement agency.