Keeping our Kids Safe Online

1. Teach your children what is and isnt safe to reveal online.  They need to understand that they are putting themselves at risk if they reveal personal information about themselves online, even information related to your family and ensuring they understand the dangers of meeting people offline.
2. Set time limits.  Most of us understand how easy it is to get sucked into the online world but our kids are developing, and they need more activity in their lives in order to become the amazing people we want them to become  therefore setting time limits is a great tool in ensuring that they have some non electronic time in their lives.  There are apps and software that exist that can help you accomplish this.  Mobicip, Norton family, E-Blaster and NetNanny are all tools that can help. (More on this shortly)
3. See what types of parental restrictions are available from your Internet service provider.  Very often they are able to block things for you before you even install software, but the pitfall of this is sometimes it ends unblocking non harmful sites and will also restrict your access.
4. Teach your kids what the signs are that should be of concern and most importantly teach them that they won’t be judged for bringing this to your attention.
5. Consider what devices have Internet access.  Kids can talk their way around why they need access to the Internet, ie. completing their work for school.  Consider limiting Internet access to devices or computers that are in public spaces in your home that allow you to easily scan what they are doing online rather than letting them lock themselves up in their room and be online for hours.
6. Usernames and passwords.  The fact is, the Internet is a scary place and as parents we need to do everything to protect our kids.  Set up a policy with your children regarding social media accounts like Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and eve a personal blog.  Let them know that you will be monitoring their pages and set guidelines as to what they can post.  They should understand that if they post anything inappropriate, you will be shutting down their account.  This is why it is extremely important to get their usernames and passwords for all of their accounts.  Even consider signing an agreement wiht them that outlines what accounts they can have and that outlines your expecations from them while online.  They should know that if they break the contract, they lose their online privileges.

One Step Further, that much safer.

There are many ways to restrict usage on individual tablets such as an iPad.  An easy setting is going into Settings> General > Restrictions and if this is your first time using this it will ask you to create password (this password should not be the same as the password to log into the device).  You can then decide if your children can have access to Safari or if they can purchase apps and what movies and music are available to them based on the ratings you have set (ie. 8+, PG, Restricted).

For your really little ones who love playing on your iPhone here is a great feature that my brother, an iEverything addict showed me that he uses to ensure his 2 year old doesn’t inadvertently respond to a text message or make a call.  When you go into the app your child will be using, you can click the round button on the iPhone 3 times and it will give you the option to lock the child into that screen no matter what they press.  In order to exit it, they will need a password. Brilliant!

But I realize that not everyone owns an Apple product and the built in features, although helpful are simply not enough.The next step is to consider monitoring and security programs. There are so many to choose from in the marketplace but here is a summary of a few and their key features:

E-Blaster Mobile

This is a great tool for monitoring your children’s online conversations.  This tool sends you reports of their conversations whether online, or in messaging services like Blackberry messenger.  It looks for key words that are dangerous and will notify you immediately if any of these words appear.  It even has a GeoFencing feature which means if your child tells you they will be in a certain area and you set that area up on E-Blaster, if the GPS detects that they have left that area, it will send you an alert. I personally love this feature as the knowledge of knowing exactly where your kids are, althoguh “Big Brother-ish”, is priceless.  They do note on their webiste that it is illegal to install this on a device and not notify the person who the device belongs to.  You will note that it is marketed for use on a device that you own but perhaps are giving to your children.  My advice is have an open and frank conversation with your kids about what you are monitoring, because if they ever find out that you did it without their permission, consider a trust based relationship with them over and done with.

NetNanny

Net Nanny allows parents and families flexibility in customizing settings for each family member and gives detailed reporting about Internet use and sites visited. You can set one set of limits for your 8 year old and another set for your teen. Parents can configure restricted sites, including YouTube (+18 videos), so family members are not presented these URLs. Net Nanny utilizes search engine “Safe Search” technology to enable these features. In addition, these settings and reports can be changed and viewed from anywhere in the world via a web based administration console. This means parents can protect their family regardless of their location.

Automatic Alerts- Net Nanny can automatically alert parents when it detects inappropriate content. This alert can be sent via an email, instantly notifying a parent of the site that was blocked the reason for the block and also includes the exact time and web page. This technology keeps parents in the know regarding their families Internet use and helps alert parents when kids gets a little too curious or mischievous with their Internet activities. Parents can review the graphical reports with their families and teach their kids why these sites where blocked and how to be safe in the future.

My personal favorite feature is  time controls to enforce when and how much your family uses the Internet.

Norton Family

I’ve always been a Norton fan and since the release of their Norton Family which is completely free, they have gained me as a life long supporter.  They took some surveys and found that 32% of teens admitted to clearing their browing history after each time online. 62% of tweens admitted to knowing how to hide their “online life” from their parents. These are scary stats and we need to ensure we are on the ball in maintaining their safety. Programs like Norton allow you to monitor what words and phrases they are searching for, how they are representing themselves onlineincluding age, and profile picture. Using this program, you will not only be keeping them safe but you’ll learn more about your kids’ online interests and you’ll know if they’re intentionally seeking out blocked or inappropriate content.  You also receive an easy-to-read activity report which shows you at a glance ALL the web sites your kids visit, or attempt to visit. You can visit the sites your kids have been to and block specific sites or types of sites.

Do you have a great tip for keeping them safe online?  Let me know, I would love to hear it!