INTERNET SAFETY FOR CHILDREN

As we are still experiencing the Covid-19 pandemic, a lot of schools remain closed and students copiously rely on digital learning platforms to make up for the lost time, thus, it is easy for children to spend more time on the internet and wander on a lot of sites. The internet is filled with websites that are inappropriate for children. Children can run into all sorts of trouble such as clicking on an explicit ad, violent information, cyberbullying, predatory adults etc. Though it is impossible to make the internet itself an absolute safe place for kids, we can at least make inappropriate online platforms inaccessible to children.

The internet is a great way for children to do research for school projects, stay up-to-date on news, share information and communicate with colleagues and friends, nevertheless, it can also be very dangerous. Thus, it is the responsibility of parents, guardians and teachers to ensure the safety of the child online. Fortunately, there are a number of control services that allows you to view your child’s activities online and monitor them.

Parental controls and content filtering could be set up on gadgets such as computers, tablets and smartphones to protect kids from internet dangers when parents, teachers or guardians are not around to supervise them:

• Web Filtering: parents and teachers can enable Web Filtering options on routers. It can filter internet access across all computers and devices connected to the router to block explicit sites and images.
• Also, parents and teachers should review the privacy and security settings of children’s social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc; this can be done by establishing rules that allow you to have access to their accounts.
• Parents need to set rules concerning how much time they want their children to spend being online and which sites they may go to. Along the rules, they can talk to their children about the consequences for breaking those rules. You can often check their internet history to look out for any inappropriate activity.
• Moreover, children ought to be thought how to protect their privacy. This is important because children cannot fully grasp the unpleasant result of revealing personal information online. Therefore, it is necessary to advise them to never give personal details such as their phone number, e-mail address, school, password or pictures without seeking their parent’s permission. Additionally, parents should ask children to never agree to meet someone they met on the internet, and tell them to report to you, anyone who makes that suggestion.

It is important for parents, teachers and guardians to be concerned about children’s activities on social media and monitor their use of the internet as this will ensure their protection from untoward content, cyberbullies and predators.