
Keep Your Children Safe Online
Our Saskatoon IT Tips are from the Trusted professionals at Burnt Orange Solutions. We promise to have a one-hour response time for all your Saskatoon IT support needs. Honesty and respect are important to us, as well as being able to help your grandmother understand this IT world. In this article, we are going to explain how to keep your children safe online.
Keep Your Children Safe Online
Most children, by the time they are eight, are independent users on the internet. Kids born in the last 20 years, will never know what it is like to walk around without a phone in their back pocket.
How to Keep Your Children Safe
Talk Openly with Your Child About Their Online Activity
As soon as your child starts accessing the internet, talk to them about what they are reading, watching and who they are communicating with online – and keep the conversation going as they grow older.
It’s vital to teach them about their online reputation, too, and how they must be careful about how they behave, interact with people and represent themselves in such a public forum. They must always remember that the internet isn’t private. Remind them:
- Only use nicknames online, not real names
- Never give out personal information online.
- Delete emails from strangers and never agree to meet someone in person that they’ve met online.
- Never accept files or downloads from people they don’t know.
Slowly Introduce Digital Media.
Creating a safe online environment for your children starts when they are young and this is when they should be taught the safest way to use it. Once they’ve been introduced to the Internet, set time constraints and keep screens and devices where you can see them.
Lead by Example
Always model the kind of positive online behaviour you would like your children to use. If they see you being cautious and respectable when you are online, they are more likely to follow in your footsteps.
Teach How to Use Strong Passwords
Make sure your children know how to create strong passwords as well as the dangers of having a weak password. Teach them to use different passwords for each account and to never share their passwords with anyone outside of the family.
Teach Your Children to Keep Their Location Private
Most apps, networks and devices have geo-tagging features which make your whereabouts public and can lead someone directly to you. These features should be turned off for obvious privacy and safety reasons. Digital photos also contain metadata (information about the time, date and GPS coordinates) which may reveal more than you want to.
Parental Controls
Parental controls are great when it comes to streaming services and computers, but did you know that most smart phones also come with parental controls? On your child’s smart phone, you can set parental controls for time limits as well as content restrictions. You can even choose which specific websites they’re allowed to visit while blocking everything else. This is a great way to prevent them from stumbling upon inappropriate or harmful content.
If you’re unsure of what steps you need to take to ensure your children’s safety online, don’t worry – we’ve got you covered contact the Trusted Saskatoon IT professionals at Burnt Orange Solutions and we can take IT worries off your plate.
Burnt Orange IT Solutions Products & Services:
- Managed Networks
- Backup and Recovery
- Data and Network Security
- Hosted Services
- Telephone Systems
- Secure WiFi Networks
“IT Support You Can Trust and Understand”