Cybersecurity: 5 Ways to Keep Kids Safe Online

Life during the pandemic has been difficult but it has taught us to find new and advanced ways of doing almost everything. Let’s talk about children. There was a time when kids sat on laptops and desktops only for playing games, but now these devices have become the source of their education too. Online education has completely transformed the study practices, helping the kids to learn while being safe in their homes.

But have you ever imagined if your kid is safe online? Yes, that might have got you wondering how anybody could hurt your kid online, but that’s possible. With more and more people getting their work done online, the threat of cyber attacks is continuously growing and our naive kids don’t know much about it. This is where it becomes the responsibility of the parents to follow all the important cybersecurity measures that could ensure that their kids are safe while they are online. The parents have to be smart and start with some of these helpful ways to stay safe online.

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1. Protect your kid’s identity

Take time to make your children understand that they should never give out their personal information to someone online whom they don’t know. The personal information here includes their full name, address, phone numbers, passwords, or anything that should not be disclosed to a stranger. Make them aware that it is essential to keep their information to themselves as any stranger could misuse it. Tell your kids to create different passwords for different accounts. This will decrease the chances of multiple accounts hacking at a time.

2. Restrict internet access and monitor activity

The parents need not be a cyber pro to come up with methods to keep their kids safe online. Technology has made it so easy to apply parental control on internet usage in homes. There are many parental control apps that parents can use to restrict usage on the devices and Wi-Fi. Parents can use this approach to set access times, timely monitor internet activity of children, and block website categories that they do not find suitable for the kids. This is an efficient way to keep an eye on the activities of kids online so that if you feel anything inappropriate, you can talk to them about it.

3. Pause before you post

It is now prevalent to post pictures and stuff online on social media platforms. There are strong chances that your kids might also be active on such a platform. You should teach your kids to make them mindful about the pictures and comments they should post online. Explain to them that whatever they are posting will be online and would be visible to all and would remain in cyberspace forever. Kids might end up posting something that they should not and won’t realize at that moment, but there might come a time when they would regret doing so and there would be no way to take it back.

4. Protect your computer

Another important thing to do is to ensure that your computer system is safe enough to be used by the kids. This is where you need to step up and ensure that you regularly update your security software. Having updated security software on your systems will help you save your sensitive information from hackers, scammers, and different other cyber attacks. Such cyber-attacks can compromise your system and can end up in the leakage of data. You can go for such a security system that automatically updates so that you always walk parallel to the latest technology, which will reduce the chances of picking up malware.

5. Be a friend, not a bully

Cyberbullying is one of the common threats in cyberspace. While you work on protecting your children from being a victim of it, you also need to inspire them and talk to them never to be a part of this system of bullying. Educate your kids to report any content online which is hurtful or offensive. You need to be open with them so that they can come to you even in case they are caught up in cyberbullying. Teach them that they should be careful about anything they say online or send in messages as sometimes they might end up hurting someone’s feelings unintentionally.

With the kids moving online, it has become important more than ever to ensure they are safe and are indulging in healthy online interactions. Parents hold a major role to guide the kids on the right way to use the internet. All of these tips can be of great help.