Menu
We are living in a time where children have access to all sorts of information on the World Wide Web. Tablets, laptops, and other devices are all common to kids nowadays and so is the use of the Internet. Thanks to this easy access of the Internet, the kids are now becoming way more advanced than their time and age.
But, is it safe? Are you sure of what information and details, your children are accessing using the Internet?
Children get exposed to sensitive information online which may not be suitable for their age. In many ways it can be quite harmful to their growth and well-being. Parents must ensure online safety for their kids, considering the dangers that lie due to free availability of inappropriate adult content and child abuse material.
So, should you stop their access to the Internet?
Internet is a great source of knowledge and education, capable of enriching the lives of every member of the family. Hence, cutting off access to internet is not an option, rather parents should find a mid-way to maintain a balance between allowing the children to get access of suitable information and also to keep them safe. Without a doubt, this can be a challenge, especially for today’s generation. Thus, to offer you the needed help, here are some of the vital tips which you can use to manage the Internet safety of your child.
The bad guys on the Internet are smart and thus you need to be smarter than them by following these tips:
Maintain a password:
If your kids are young and you don’t want to expose them to irrelevant information on the Internet, then the best way to do so is to maintain a password and keeping it secret from your kids. Whenever your kids need access to the Internet, login on their behalf and then allow them to have the required information.
But, if your child is a little older, then you can have a separate account for them with limited and restricted access of the Internet. You can take the help of parental control filters to keep an eye on the online activities and actions of your child. It is very easy to set up parental controls into your child’s account which will be beneficial for both the parents and the child. To create such account, go to Control Panel and then to ‘Add or remove user Accounts’ in Windows. For more information on ‘parental control’ you can visit Set-up-Parental-Controls.
Use a child-safe browser:
Another good solution for keeping your child safe against exposure to inappropriate websites is to use a child-safe browser. There are many browsers available online which ensure safe browsing for children by filtering out inappropriate content and websites. One such browser is ‘Kidzui’ which restricts access to Adult content and websites. You can further have a look at the sites approved by such browsers and then can also add and remove any of them if required. Another free alternative is Pikluk Browser. You may get it from here – Download Kidzui, Download Pikluk
Open DNS for your child’s protection:
There are high chances that your kids may encounter with child abuse over the Internet which can be harmful to their growth and development. This too can leave a lifelong impact on their mental health and stability. Therefore, it is beneficial to use an open DNS for ensuring enough protection of your child against Internet abuse.
Open DNS is a web-based tool for filtering out all the possibilities of child abuse over the Internet. This tool can effectively block all the adult content and sites so that your children can not reach them. This tool also automatically updated to add/remove new sites for ensuring the required safety for your child.
You simply need to create an account with open DNS for accessing its services. Once, you are done with creating an account, you can easily go through the tool and can make the required changes according to your needs and requirements to start getting the needed services.
Install an effective antivirus:
There are many antiviruses available in the market which are designed for offering desired protection for children. You can rely on and use any good antivirus software for maintaining effective protection for your child.
Such antiviruses prevent the exposure of your child to most of the adult sites and data by blocking them. You can use the antivirus for both Windows and Mac to get the required information whenever necessary. Other than this, you can also control and change the settings of the antivirus according to your needs and requirements. You can set the required parental control to be aware of what your children are accessing across the Internet.
Other than using the above mentioned technologies for ensuring enough Internet security of your child, you as a parent should also take the needed necessary steps to educate your child about the misuse of internet. Here are some useful steps that you as a parent can take for ensuring your child’s protection over the Internet:
Educate your child:
One of the easiest and essential step that you should take to protect your child against Internet misuse is to educate them about the same. It has been observed that kids are soft targets of many Internet crimes and therefore, they should be well-educated against them. Talk with your kids and make them aware of the possible cyber-crimes so that they can protect themselves in the best possible manner. Along with teaching them about cyber theft, make them aware of the ways in which they can stand strong against such cyber-crimes.
Bookmark sites and enable safe search:
One of the easiest ways of protecting your child is to bookmark the relevant and suitable sites so that your child can easily open them without the need of surfing anything extra over the Internet. Other than this, you can also enable the safe search option and use safe search filters to ensure the safety of your child.
Create awareness about the various types of online crimes and scams:
Along with taking all the necessary steps for protecting your child’s identity over the Internet, you can also make them aware of the various types of scams and frauds which happen online. Educating them about these will help them identify good websites from bad ones. The best way to do this is to make them aware of the different types of scams so that they can easily identify them.
Keep a check your child’s social media activities:
As a parent, you should keep a check on the social profiles of your child. Take a regular tour across their social media profiles and keep a check of what they are posting on their social accounts. To get access through their accounts and to teach them the difference between the right and the wrong, you should also try spending some relevant time with them online. In this way, they will be more open to you about their social interactions and as a result, you will be able to offer them with the needed support and protection against social crimes.
These are some of the effective and possible ways in which you can protect your children against the social and cyber-crimes without interfering with their growth. Using these tips, you can allow your children to have the right amount of access while preserving their identity across the Internet. Lay the right foundation of your child’s future by following these tips.
If you further need any information or help regarding Internet safety for your children then please get in touch with us.