The internet is stuffed full
of great resources and activities for kids, but it is also packed full of
things that aren’t so wholesome too.
Parenting challenges get more complex as our kids seem to be born
digital natives – having grown up with the internet and have no concept of what
life was like without it (unlike me who remembers when the fax was introduced). Kids are completely at home with technology:
using a mouse or touchscreen to navigate is as much a life skill as learning to
read and write. In fact, many young
children learn to use a touchpad or touchscreen way before they can read or
write, using colours and symbols instead of words to navigate around websites.
Whatever the age of your kids,
it’s important to keep them safe. Much
of the internet is a fabulous resource for kids, whether it's Wikipedia for
helping with homework, online games, social networks, videos, music and more.
However, there are an equal number of websites that you wouldn’t want them
going anywhere near. With that in mind,
I thought I look at ways to keep kids safe.
Much of the advice is common sense, but there are some applications and
utilities such as parental control software which can help to act as a digital
nanny and protect your children when you’re eyes aren't watching making ‘computer
time’ more fun (and safe) for everyone.
Websites and Search
Even if you've not seen much
evidence of it when you've browsed the web, it isn’t too hard to imagine the
kinds of things that you wouldn’t want your kids to see. Pornography is the
most obvious, and the web is jammed full of it.
Young kids might stumble upon a porn website by accident (usually by
clicking on photos or links without understanding what they’re doing) while
older kids might curious and actively seek it out. Besides porn, there are a plethora of gambling
sites, plus others which promote drugs, guns or things kids don't need to be looking at. Even YouTube
isn’t necessarily safe. Innocent searches could turn up unsuitable material,
and some people make a habit of swapping the soundtracks of, say, children's
cartoons with music bad language.
Parental guidance
The first and strongest
protection for your child is parental guidance. Ideally, if you can participate
in their browsing - particularly in the early days when the web. School homework is an ideal opportunity, to
explain the web's positive and negative sides, and reinforce your own standards
without sounding too severe. Children are natural experimenters, and nothing is
more tempting than finding out by trial and error why something has been
prohibited. But if you've explained it, and your explanation has been accepted
voluntarily, the experiment is much less likely to be made.
Search and Filters
But parents can’t be
everywhere at once so to help there are many search engines designed for
kids. Their aim is to filter out sites
that parents and teachers might find inappropriate and make searching on the
internet a simpler process – protecting them from stumbling over material that
is inappropriate and help make it easier for kids to find what they are looking
for on the internet.
Unlike the main search
engines, which use automated software to analyse websites, search engines for
kids like Yahoo! Kids, Ask Kids, KidsClick or AOL Kids
use human beings to build a limited directory of websites, each one is slightly
different but much safer than the main search site. By doing this it allows these services to
ensure that every site they link to has been vetted and approved. Some of these sites also offer games and
other entertainment, and many are designed to be visually appealing.
But children growing up with
this technology are often far more comfortable with it than their parents are,
and are unlikely to remain content with the ‘walled garden’ approach for very
long – at this point installing search-engine filters is a good idea. If your main goal is to prevent them from
accessing inappropriate material, the major search engines all have filters you
can turn on. Usually, these are called something like ‘SafeSearch’ (Google,
Yahoo!). This approach allows your child to learn how to use a search engine –
arguably one of the most important tools they will need – while giving you some
peace of mind.
But bear in mind, however, that no search engine or software can
guarantee that your child will never see anything you disapprove of. The most
certain approach to internet safety is adult supervision.
Social networks
Facebook and other sites are
great places for sharing photos and chatting. They’re especially good for allowing
children to keep in touch with friends and family who don’t live nearby. Privacy is something of an issue with social
networks, though. It's all too easy to make the wrong security settings or not
make any at all, leaving messages in the open for others to see. You don't want
your kids sharing any personal details such as their address, location or phone
number.
Online games
Virtual online worlds are
becoming more and more popular with kids from around 6 upwards. Sites such as Moshi Monsters, Disney's Club Penguin and Habbo Hotel allow
children to be a character in one of these games, joining for free and paying
for certain in-game add-ons.
A core part of the games is
being able to chat with friends and make new friends but, although every click
is monitored and every word moderated, you never know for sure who they're
talking to. While all three websites claim to be safe for kids, you should
still supervise them as they play.
Instant messaging and email
As with Facebook, instant
messaging clients and email make it possible for untold numbers of people to
contact your child. The
innocent-sounding messages coming from an innocent-sounding name might in fact
be a pedophile ‘grooming’ your child by establishing their trust. Such
conversations have been known to lead to real-world meetings where anything
could happen.
Bullying
The ease of communicating
online has disadvantages as well as benefits. It’s easy for other kids to bully
a child through social networks and instant messages – even email. Unflattering
photos can be posted online and lead to insults, taunting and threats. Because
there’s nothing physical, online bullying can go unnoticed by parents if kids
don’t say what’s happening – so talk and watch their behaviour after online
sessions.
Internet Safety for kids
- Before you post anything online, by text or email ask a parents permission.
- Be nice and polite online and avoid contact with strangers.
- Do not share your passwords with anyone other than your parents - not even your friends.
- Do not provide information regarding where you are online without a parents permission.
- Never meet someone face-to-face you have met online.
- If you receive a message from someone that makes you feel upset or worried show it to your parents or a teacher.
For more information visit:
NSPCC: Advice and support for adults concerned about a child
CEOP: Organisation that works to stop child abuse on the internet
Know-it-All: Information on benefits, risks and safety on the intenet
Which?: Information and advice on child internet safety
Safe Kids: Rules and advice for online safety
BBC: Staying safe online
Visit www.thinkyouknow.com a website for young people and their parents, carers and teachers - run by the UK's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP),! there are some useful advice on parental control software on www.choose.net.
Happy surfing!
