As the age that children have access to the internet gets younger, so does the age to teach them about its dangers. There are lots of things to warn children about on the internet from online security and privacy to trolling. To help our parent community, we have teamed up with an independent school in Surrey to share how you can teach children to use the internet safely.
Trolling
It’s easy to set up an online account, comment and interact with others. While this is great for socialising and keeping in touch with friends and family, “trolls” take advantage of this and use it as a means to bring others down by sending hurtful messages and comments. They hide behind anonymous, fake profiles to cyber bully others. The best way for your child to protect themselves against cyber bullies would be to not have a public profile and add those that they’re unfamiliar with. That way they won’t have strangers messaging them and viewing what they share online.
Privacy
Going back to online privacy, it’s important for your child to consider the information that they put out online. It can just as easily fall into the wrong hands and something as harmless as a selfie can be used to work out the school that they go to if in uniform. Remind your child to refrain from posting any personal or sensitive information like where they go to school, where they are or where they live online. This can also be protected through advanced privacy settings. Some platforms even let you view your profile as others would so that you can see what information is available in the public domain.
Never Arrange to Meet Others
Social media and gaming platforms are alluring for children as they can talk to others and in some cases make new friends. However, this isn’t the best idea and it’s important to advise your child against adding anyone that they don’t know in real life. Meeting up with them is an even bigger no-no as it can put them in danger. Stranger danger is just as important to be aware of online.
