Kids these days have access to everything at their fingertips. Swipe down and you have details about everything under the sun. They can interact with both friends and strangers through various digital platforms and can use different applications that might be inappropriate for them, depending on their age and maturity level.
Monitoring your child’s access to media is an immediate need and the best way to do this is to experience the media yourself. Look up the applications in mobile phones and educate yourself what actions these applications do. Some parents choose to monitor their child’s online activities very closely and here are some ways that you can do it.
Choose the right time
Some children are not mature enough to use social media at the age of 13. It is important to pick the right time to allow them to join these sites. Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have a minimum age requirement of 13 following the “Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.” But then, there are no safeguards that protect children from creating a false profile. Many children at the age of 13 acquire enough maturity to handle social media with adequate guidance and monitoring but for some, age doesn’t necessarily mean maturity.
Check the privacy settings
Parents are to ensure their children’s safety by adjusting the privacy settings. Most social media sites have strict privacy settings that limit the access to the details of the user. It is important to further give instructions to the kid about who can send messages to them and who all can see their personal information. Also, decisions need to be made on what sites the child can access.
Utilize monitoring software
Using monitoring technologies is the best way to monitor your child’s activities on the internet. Applications such as Qustodio, Net Nanny, Kaspersky Safe Kids give parental control over internet activity and let them filter content that kids view.
Keep it in the open
Keep the internet activity limited to the public area of your home since it allows the easy monitoring of their online habits. By this, not only the parents can look upon their kids but it also makes the child aware of their parents’ presence and make them less inclined to investigate the restrained sites.
Set ground rules
Before allowing access to the social media platforms, have a clear discussion with your child about how they are expected to behave online. Make them understand that it is not safe to share everything with everyone online. This should include matters such as how much time should be spent online, why are some sites restricted etc. They should know that their actions in the cyber world will have effective consequences. They have to learn that using inappropriate language or bullying someone online is not cool and they can even face legal actions.
Educate yourself
If parents are not well aware of the world of social media, they won’t be able to properly monitor their kids’ online activity. One can know more about the social media site by visiting the site themselves and also discussing it with other parents. Most kids don’t like it when you follow their online activities but make sure you assure them that the intervention will be limited.
Discuss online dangers
Adults should keep an open line of communication with the children and educate them about the dangers that lurk online. They should be aware of what cyberbullying looks like and should come to the adults when they are in need of help. Some children get scared and they limit themselves from talking to their parents about the bullying they face online. Children should be made aware that they have legal rights to take action against the person who is bullying them. Proper care and guidance from their parents will help them to handle the situation better. Technology is never going back. It is us who need to be prepared to tackle situations better. Educating ourselves and our children about proper social media usage and the proper usage of cyberspace is of paramount importance in this 21st century. Under the supervision of their parents, children are sure to learn the way to use their digital space and they will learn to be a good digital citizen