Fresh Perspectives on Global Stories

How to Keep Your Children Safe Online

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Computers, tablets and phones are some of the key devices that children use for their entertainment and educational needs these days. It is truly incredible just how many options that are for both those uses, and they are undoubtedly beneficial for children.

But just like with anything, there are certain risks associated with using devices. Virus, malware, hackers and unsafe content not meant for a child’s eyes. Just how do you make sure that your children can use their devices and the internet without being put at risk? Keep reading on and learn a few effective strategies you can employ for this purpose.

Strong Antivirus

One of the things you should have regardless of whether you have children or not is some antivirus software. Sometimes websites are just incredibly deceptive and eventually, despite using common sense, you will get a virus or malware.

Children are of course a lot more trusting concerning the websites they visit, and this increases the risk of encountering a virus. Therefore, having some antivirus software on guard at all times is sure to be a beneficial step to securing not just their safety but also your own. Good suggestions for antivirus software could be Norton, Bullguard or Avast!

Restrict & Allow Specific Websites

One of the best ways that you can keep your children safe on the internet is to limit what they can have access to. The internet is a wild and vast place and there is a lot of content, such as online casinos, mature rated content etc., that is not meant for children but still is very easy for them to access.

You can typically limit access to specific websites using antivirus software with parental controls. Here you can set which sites should be allowed and which should not be. By filtering out adult and harmful content your children will only see age-appropriate content. When they get older and have a stronger sense of responsibility, they can have more freedom to browse.

Be Vigilant and Educative

As a parent the responsibility of your children falls on you in any instance. Therefore, you should take some time to sit down with your children and explain to them that some things are too good to be true and that there can be bad things on the internet.

That of course also requires that you have some technical knowledge yourself. This makes it a two-way street. To educate you need to know and not be ignorant. If you are not very tech-savvy or use any devices frequently it is time you started to do so. If you do not know what to expect from the internet, you can not educate your children properly about it either.

This is a lesson that too many parents have overlooked. As a result, their children have unrestricted access to the internet and the parents do not know what is going on. This can have severe consequences for the privacy and safety of your children. This is not an encouragement to spy on your kids, however. You just need to teach them to be self-aware and cautious.