There is no denying that technology is a part of today’s children’s lives. Much more than that, the little ones live connected several hours a day – whether at home or at school, interactivity is constantly growing and ever present.
However, this phenomenon we are experiencing also brings one of the biggest fears of parents and guardians: the dangers of the internet. It is known that, unfortunately, the children are very exposed to people of bad nature who can take advantage of the innocence of the little ones.
Therefore, it is important to have waist play, creativity and sensitivity to deal with the situation. Despite the care that must be taken in its use, it is worth noting that the internet does not configure itself as a villain, since it brings many benefits and advantages.
With a channel of dialogue always open and a relationship of complicity developed every day, the scenario in which children interact with the internet has everything to be positive. To help with this delicate and important task, here are 5 tips to address the biggest dangers on the Internet and figure out how to get around them! Keep reading and check it out.
1. Be careful about online predators
Did you know that there are people who are hunting potential victims on the internet? Yeah. They are online predators and children are their preferred targets. They try to show the same interests as the small ones and imitate their way of communicating with the aim of creating affective bonds. They then seek out more information about their family and routine, and even call them for personal encounters. In this case, first, the ideal is that you always be very attentive to the pages that your child accesses. Explain to him that, unfortunately, many adults lie to children on the internet, with the clear intention of hurting them and their parents. Tell true stories of cases that have already happened, but always be very careful about the words you use, okay? Your child needs to understand what predators are, but not create panic, trauma or excessive fear. What he really needs to learn is how to get out of these situations.
2. Explain how you care about sharing photos and videos
Here’s another big problem that can be avoided by talking to children. With the popularization of photo and video sharing applications (such as Instagram for example), the number of youth images on the network has skyrocketed exponentially. Since the exchange of photos and videos on the internet is very common and that, for children, this type of practice is stimulating and attractive, it is necessary to talk. So explain to the child that if someone asks him for personal or family pictures, he should be suspicious and call you right away. In addition, it is essential that you explain that there is no reason why a person he does not know should ask for such content.
3. Warn about the dangers of face-to-face meetings
Perhaps this is the biggest problem among the dangers of the internet. When previous security measures have not been fully effective, your child may already be involved with a “virtual friend” who also wants to meet him personally.
4. Restrict access to prohibited sites for minors
Free internet access can cause children to come into contact with content that is not exactly suitable for their age group. This does not, of course, only include erotic content aimed at the adult audience, but images that can be strong or traumatic. It is very difficult to control this kind of aspect of the internet, especially since we do not always have to look for something to be shown to us. That’s why it’s very important to talk and use some tools to prevent this type of content from being shown to your child while browsing the web. Here, it is worth including social networks, like Facebook. In case your children use iPhone you’re recommended to use an iPhone spy app. Tons of apps are available but only a few of them is really good; one of them is Spyzie. Spyzie is a very good app to monitor all calls, text messages, WhatsApp chats, Facebook chats and many more on your children’s mobile phone.
Dialogue carefully so your child understands that you are not making a random restriction! The prohibition only departs from the real danger that exists in entering sites without the presence and monitoring of an adult.
5. Work on bullying prevention
Just like in schools, the presence of bullying is very marked on the internet. Perhaps in these cases, it is even more pronounced, thanks to the sense of anonymity that this type of communication brings to its users. Bullying is one of the main problems in the education of children and adolescents today, and guiding them about its consequences is fundamental. This work should be done together in a partnership between parents and educators and should start as soon as possible. In spite of this, children must also be preserved, talking to them about this type of subject and showing that we will always be present to assist them in any situation.
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