How To Keep Your Kids Safe Online

If you are a parent, you are probably always thinking about your children’s safety online. Whether they are watching YouTube videos, playing Roblox or online games on their game consoles. There are so many ways in which they can be unknowingly in danger. They might think that they are talking to another kid their age and enjoying a game, and in reality, it might really be an adult with very bad intentions.

This is not something any of us would like to think it ever happening under our roof. But it happens more often than we would like to imagine. Children are very innocent and unaware of the dangers of the internet. Sadly, this makes them an easy target for online predators.

The Beau Biden Foundation For The Protection Of Children says “ Every day there are at least 500,000 predators online. 1 in 5 children report they’ve been solicited or contacted by a predator in the last year. ”

This is terrifying but it’s a reality we must face.

Please note: This post covers some rules that you may implement with your children to keep them safe online. It does not cover the tools you may use to limit their access to the internet, such as parental controls and others

This is why it’s necessary to establish a few rules that our children must follow when they are online. These have worked for us; I hope they will work for you too.

1. No Personal information

They cannot share any identifiable information that may lead to them. These include:

• Full names
• Birthdays
• Addresses
• Phone numbers
• The name of their school
• Their school mascot
• If they have siblings or their siblings’ names

Do your best to not instill fear in your kids. Instead, emphasize that these are precautionary measures taken to keep them safe. They need to know that there are bad people in the world and that not everyone is a good person. Especially on the internet, where everyone is a stranger. Some people might be pretending to be someone else and they need to be careful and safeguard their information.

2. No photos or Videos

This is a big no-no in our home. They know not to share any photos or videos of themselves (and/or siblings) with anyone online. We have explained to them how some bad people may want to request pictures and lie about them getting in trouble if they don’t. It is a scary slippery slope, that no parent wishes their child slipping in.

As adults, we recognize the dangers involved. Unfortunately, we are very well aware of how those online images could be used, and our job is to do our best in order to protect our children.

3. Shared YouTube accounts

It is hard, if not impossible, to keep our children off this platform. They watch videos, cartoons, educational channels, and many more types of content in here. This is the most widely known platform for kids. It’s common to hear stories from parents about when their child is playing make believe, they say “don’t forget to like and subscribe to my channel” (as youtubers say before finishing a video).

Back in the day, kids dreamed of becoming astronauts or fire fighters. Nowadays, kids dream of becoming a YouTube celebrity. That is how much children are exposed to and affected by this platform. However, kids still need supervision while on this platform. They comment and have conversations with people on a regular basis.

This is why children must adhere to the rules previously mentioned. But as a second layer of protection, we can share our account. The child can use a sub account (basically a second user added under your own account), allowing you to have access to their activity.

I also regularly check what their history looks like and weed out any content that I consider to be sketchy. My kids are still under 10, so right now this is how we roll for my peace of mind. As they get older, they will have a little more autonomy regarding having their own private accounts. But right now, this works for us.

You can also set up an account for them with YouTube Kids. It is a safer environment for children to watch videos and enjoy the perks of YouTube. However, you still have to keep an eye on their history and the content they are watching. Unfortunately, even though YouTube has done a fantastic job at trying to keep this platform safe, there are still people that manage to sneak in inappropriate content.

4. No Social Media

YouTube is the only social media they are allowed to use. Other than that, nothing else is allowed. Some platforms have a minimum age of 13 to even sign up, and with good reason. Children are bombarded with a crazy amount of information. Sometimes even criticism that they are not ready to handle. To that, adding the risk of predators online waiting to pounce on innocent children, makes the risk even greater.

A lot of predators are always searching social media platforms for young users to connect with. In these platforms, children are constantly sharing pictures of themselves, their friends, school, neighborhoods, favorite foods and everything about themselves. Which makes it easy for people with bad intentions to get close to them and know where they are and what they like.

The worst is, they can easily connect with the children by pretending to be someone their own age. Therefore, before having social media, kids need to know what they can share and what to avoid so they can be safe online.

This is why we don’t allow our kids to have any social media. They are too young to handle such a big responsibility. As they get older, we may assess their maturity level and have a conversation before we begin to consider allowing them to be on any social media platforms.

5. Never meet with a person you talked to online

Our kids should know to immediately disengage with a person who is trying to get too much information from them. If someone is trying to meet them in person, they should know to never go. As this could be very dangerous and might lead to an adult on the other end.

These are the rules that we have for our kids. It would be nice if I could tell you that I watch them 100% of the time while they are online watching videos or playing video games. Unfortunately, that’s impossible. I am in the vicinity and from time to time, I come over to check up on them, and look over what they are watching or playing. But it would be unrealistic for me to sit alongside them and see every single video or game.

 I think this is a decision that every parent must make, considering their situation and child. Some people may allow their children to have their own social media early on, while others would not allow any social media at all, even if their child is already a teen. Every family must make that decision for themselves and do what works best for them.

However, regardless of what your stance is on the subject, this is a conversation that must take place with young children and teenagers. It would be nice if people only used the internet and social media to connect in innocent ways, unfortunately, that’s not the world we live in. We need to make sure that our kids are safe while being online.

Ensuring that they understand the rules we have set in place and the reasons why they are there. Even if you decide on no social media at all. Explain to them why you have made that decision, and how ultimately, you are looking out for their best interest.

Who should you reach out to if your child or a child you know has been contacted by a predator?

• If there’s immediate danger, call 911.
• Or contact the CyberTipline from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Webpage:  https://report.cybertip.org

24-Hour Hotline:  1-800- 843-5678

Here, you can report crimes against children, including online enticement of a minor (and/or for sexual acts), obscene material sent to a child, and child pornography.