What’s What Wednesday : Internet Safety

Written by Gustavo Gómez. Posted in Blog, Talking to your Children about Safety

What’s What Wednesday: Internet Safety

The Internet is a wonderful tool for children to do research, play games, and communicate with family and friends.  With the holidays among us children may want to utilize the internet for shopping, gift ideas as well as increased free time due to school breaks. It is important to familiarize yourself with how your child is using the internet as well as teaching your child the “do’s and don’ts.”

Educating your child about the importance of keeping personal information private i.e. his/her last name, age, home address, school name, telephone number, or sharing his/her online passwords (with anyone other than you) can assist you in guiding your child’s internet safety. Read the privacy policies of the websites your child visits regularly as some of these sites and services often have minimum age requirements and may not be appropriate for all children.

The best way to ensure your child’s safety on the Internet is by getting involved and setting rules for your child’s use of the Internet. Sunshine State Counseling Center has a few tips to assist with educating your child on internet safety:

• Spend time with your child when he/she is online.
• Ask your child to share his/her blogs or online profiles with you.
• Monitor the amount of time your child spends online.
• Set rules for your child’s use of the Internet.
• Discourage your child from posting photos or videos online without your approval.
• Discuss stranger safety (review What’s What Wednesday: Stranger Safety for language children understand) and to not arrange for a face-to-face meeting with someone he/she met over the Internet without your approval.
• Allow continued conversation for how your child can respond to messages that are suggestive, obscene, threatening, or otherwise inappropriate as this can be important for the Internet and in social settings.