8 Back to School Internet Safety Tips for Kids

Internet Safety Tips for Kids. Here are eight important online safety conversations to have with your child before the first bell rings. | MamaBear

As students head back to school, many will take their own smartphones for the first time. Others will enter classrooms where they will start regularly using the internet for school projects. So this year, it’s time to add one more item to your back to school checklist — discussing internet safety tips for kids.

Here are eight important online safety conversations to have with your child before the first bell rings.

1. Use the privacy settings to keep your account private.

Each social media account has their own features for keeping your account private. Go through each account to make sure you are only sharing information with close friends and family and that all personal information is hidden.

2. Don’t give your password to anyone but your parents or primary caregiver.

If a friend, teacher, or babysitter asks for your password, say no. If an adult insists, tell them you need a parent present before you can share access to your account. Friends don’t need your password, and no adult should request it without a parent’s consent.

3. Don’t share sensitive information about yourself or your family online.

Sensitive information includes your: address, name of your school, phone number, and age. If someone repeatedly asks for such information, tell a parent or adult.

4. Don’t share photos or posts that would embarrass or expose you or anyone else.

If you can’t tell what is embarrassing or racy, ask yourself, “Would it be okay if this was shown on television news or attached to a job resume?” If the answer is no, then don’t post it. Images and words create a lasting digital footprint that can be hard to delete, so always think before you post.

girl-375114_640.jpg

5. Don’t accept requests from anyone you don’t know in real life, even if you have multiple mutual friends.

Only accept people that you personally know, and don’t accept someone just because many of your friends have.

6. Never agree to meet in-person with someone that you met online.

People that you know online are strangers in real life, and they are just as dangerous as any other stranger. If someone asks you to meet them, remember the stranger danger rule — say no and immediately tell an adult.

Related: Protecting Kids from Internet Stranger Danger

7. If you see any type of cyberbullying, don’t respond or participate.

Go tell a parent immediately. Even if you are trying to stop someone from bullying, it is better to not get involved. Instead, notify a parent or adult so they can address and help solve the problem.

8. Talk to an adult if you encounter anything that makes you uncomfortable.

Cyberbullying may be easy to spot and identify, but there are other internet dangers that may not be as obvious. If you have any internet encounters that feels weird or unusual or awkward, tell an adult.

It’s important to have open communication about social media and online safety with your child. In the real world, have regular conversations that discuss both the upsides and the downsides of the internet. Then connect through MamaBear Family Safety app to stay connected in the digital world. The free app is available for both Androids and iPhones.

Helping Your Teen be Safe on Social Media

social media safety for teens

About the author: Naomi Broderick is a professional writer who loves being a parent and everything that goes with it. When she’s not having to watch her three children in the front yard she loves to cook and keep updated on the most recent technologies and ways of keeping children safe in the home and the neighborhood.

In our current culture, there are more and more ways that people, especially teens, can connect with one another. We now live in a digital world that is the preferred method of connecting and communicating with others. While today’s teenagers may seem that they are growing up more and more quickly, and seem more digitally savvy than their parents, they are still young. They lack the maturity and life skills to get themselves out of trouble in these new social settings. Helping them to prevent dangerous social interactions in the first place is the ideal thing to do. Here are some tips to help your teen be safe on social media.

Use Privacy Settings

Not only are there worries about having to having to keep your family safe in the real world, but in our current culture there are now worries about having to protect your family and teens online. One of the best ways to do this is to have your teen use the privacy settings on social media sites. Keep your teen’s profile private so that only family and people you know and trust can see photos, important dates such as birthdays, and other information. It would be best if they didn’t put any personal contact information such as phone numbers, home addresses, or other information on their social media sites. Also, make sure that your teen has a strong password that cannot be guessed easily and that they change it fairly regularly (approximately every 3-4 months). Making sure that your teen does not accept any friend requests of people that they do not know will help give you piece of mind knowing that strangers are not able to access your teen’s profile.

Have Open Discussions with Your Teen

There is one thing that any parent has to accept: teens are going to experiment and try new things. But, if you want your teen to be open an honest with you about what they are doing, you need to have an open dialogue with them. Parents need to be ready to actively listen and talk with their teen about what is going on in their life if they want the teen to come to them more often for help and guidance. Help them get over the situation but make sure that they learn from their mistake.

No Compromising Photos or Videos

Help your teen be smart about what they post online. Everything that they post on social media sites can be shared with the entire world and could hurt their integrity. If teens that are underage post sexy or nude photos of themselves not only they could get in trouble but parents as well. The parents are responsible for the original sender and could face jail time and be required to register as a sex offender. Teens could also be asked to leave sports teams, humiliated, or lose future educational opportunities. Talk to your teen about being smart and using good judgment about taking and posting photos, and that they know the serious consequences of what can happen for both them and you if the pictures are inappropriate.

Track Your Kids while they Trick-or-Treat

kids halloween safety

Halloween brings back wonderful memories. Dressing up, grabbing that big plastic pumpkin or pillow case and running out to fill it with goodies was a ton of fun. It was great going to Halloween parties with friends, walking through haunted houses and feeling the rush of being scared or trying to trick your friends with different pranks. We all want our children to have the same memories when they grow up, but today’s parent seems to have more to worry about – different threats to tamper with making memories.  At what age is trick-or-treating appropriate without us at their side? Should we let them go to the neighborhood over with their friends? Who are they sharing their Halloween pictures with on social media? Who’s going to be at the Halloween party?  Thinking about these questions can make any parent nervous. Answering them in a way that makes you rest easier is possible.

There will come an age when your child won’t want you to come with them when they go trick-or-treating. We all want to encourage independence and let them enjoy such a fun day with their friends. You can ease some anxiety using GPS tracking from your kid’s phone or a separate device.  Deciding to let them go without you can also depend on their level of maturity, proving to you that they are responsible enough to make good decisions. Or, you may base the level of freedom on the friends the child will be around. As a group, can they be accountable?

As a parent, you may want to track your kids, no matter where their level of maturity is. GPS tracking will let you know right where they are and if they’ve crossed any landmark boundaries. There are apps and devices that can send you notifications about their location to tame some anxiety while you’re handing out candy at home.  And now with so many of our children using their phones to share pictures, get ready to see more photos of costumes than ever before on their Facebook and Instagram profiles. We definitely won’t be able to keep up with our kids’ photo sharing pace, yet it’s highly recommended you know what pictures they are posting or are tagged in. If you need a helper, there’s an app for that.

Whether you decide to give your child the freedom to trick-or-treat without you with the reassurance of a tracking device, or a social media monitoring tool we wish you a happy and safe Halloween! Have fun and let the MamaBear app make it a less anxious celebration.