Cyber Safety for Kids

Educating Children on Potential Internet Dangers

When it comes to using the internet there are a good many methods to help ensure that children stay safe. Implementing searching censor software and antivirus programs are a good way to start but one of the best and most effective ways to keep children safe online is to educate them as to the potential dangers. Teaching children how to recognize dangerous situations is not only important to preventing cyber bullying and online predation but it is also important to help children to recognize the pitfalls that exist in utilizing the cyber world. With a little education kids can learn how to safeguard their person as well as their privacy and avoid becoming a target to predators that hide behind a computer monitor. In this article we will cover a few tips on how you can work with your child to make them more aware of their cyber safety.

Why You Should Be Concerned with Your Child’s Cyber Safety

Statistics on Online Predation

Most parents who have children that have access to the internet are aware of the potential dangers that exist with their children using the net; however, they are not always informed as to the severity of the situation. Recent studies by the Crimes Against Children Research Center have revealed that approximately one teenager out of every five within the United States has received an unwanted sexual solicitation online. For the purpose of the study sexual solicitation was considered to include requests to take part in sexual activity, sexually charged talk or requests to share personal sexual information. Unfortunately according to the center, only 25% of children who have been solicited sexually or who have been approached by a sexual predator have shared that information with an adult or parental figure. Perhaps slightly more disturbing is that one in thirty three children received an aggressive sexual solicitation in the past twelve months according to the Your Internet Safety Survey. An aggressive sexual solicitation is one in which a child has been asked to meet them in a specific location, has called them on the phone or has used the US postal system to initiate in depth conversation. It is also worth noting that according to the Crimes Against Children Research Center some 25 % of children have also been exposed to unwanted pornographic material online, something that can be regulated at a slightly higher level than personal contact. The Center for Missing and Exploited Children has also revealed that only one third of North American households are actively protecting their children by implementing even the easiest of cyber safety methods – filtering and blocking software. Perhaps a more troublesome statistic is that discovered by eMarketer when they found that some 75% of children are willing to share personal information about themselves or about their family when offered some type of good or service in return for the information.

Who Becomes a Victim of Online Predation?

The Crimes Against Children Research Center studies reveal that the good majority (77%) of children targeted by internet predators were aged 14 or older while 22% of targets were aged 10 to 13 years old. While these statistics focus on the majority of cases of online predation, the truth of the matter is that children of any age can fall prey to a cyber predator but with approximately 93% of Americans between the ages of 12 and 17 utilizing the internet the chances are higher that these age groups will be targeted by online predators.

What Steps Can Be Taken To Enforce Cyber Safety?

As mentioned above there are a number of things that parents can do to enforce their children’s safety. Some of the more popular methods of enforcing kid’s cyber safety include: installing restrictive software, implementing passwords on family computers, placing computers in commonly trafficked areas of the home, regulating the amount of time that children should spend online during any day and implementing e-mail spam filters.

Installing Restrictive Software

Installing restrictive software is a fast and easy way to lend to a safer internet experience for children. There is a large number of restrictive software available to parents; however, each variety of software differs in the features that it offers so it is important to research these programs thoroughly before choosing one to keep your children safe. Restrictive software can be used to create a safe list of websites which child users of the computer are allowed to visit or it can be used to create a prohibited list of websites that child users of the computer are disallowed to visit. In general it is far easier to create a list of allowed websites since there are a considerable number of websites on the net that should be restricted from child access.

Implementing Passwords on Family Computers

While many families now allow each member of the household to have their own computer or laptop, some families still maintain that one computer is more than enough for a single family. Having a single family computer actually makes safe cyber parenting even easier because it restricts children’s access to the internet to a particular time slot. Family computers should have a single password that is either known to everyone in the household or is known only to the trusted parents of the household. Keeping access to the family computer restricted by restricting knowledge of the computer password is generally the preferred means of doing this because it ensures that children are unable to access the internet when there is not a trusted adult present.

Placing Computers in Commonly Trafficked Areas of the Home

Another important thing that parents can do when a shared family computer is being used is to ensure that the family computer is located in a commonly trafficked area of the home. Young adults can often be tempted by friends or strangers to access material that is inappropriate for their age range; however, ensuring that the family computer is on a highly trafficked area of the home is the perfect way to avoid this. When children know that they are being monitored and that their activity is being watched they are likely to be much more vigilant as to what they are doing while they are online. Keeping a computer in a highly trafficked area also helps to encourage active parenting where parents monitor their child’s online activity personally.

Regulating the Amount of Time That Children Should Spend Online During Any Day

A step that many parents already take to try to keep their children safe from cyber predators is to regulate the amount of time that they spend online. Not only are children more susceptible to online influence when they spend less time around real family members and friends but spending too much time online is generally poor for socialization skills.

Implementing E-Mail Spam Filters

E-mail is just one way in which cyber predators or spammers can access a child when they are online. Very often pornographic websites send out e-mails without knowing who is on the receiving end of those e-mails. In addition cyber predators will often try to contact children that they meet online through e-mail addresses given out in chat rooms or posted in public profiles. Implementing a spam filter will help to reduce the number of pornographic type e-mails that go through to a child’s e-mail inbox but unfortunately it is not particularly effective in preventing e-mails from predators from going through unless they contain a picture or video attachment. The best way to guard against a child from being exposed to adult material through their e-mail is to combine a couple of cyber safety tips – install an e-mail filter to catch pornographic e-mails and ensure that you have access to your child’s e-mail address in order to keep tabs on who is e-mailing your child at any point in time.

How to Approach Your Child about Cyber Safety

There are a number of ways to approach your child about the importance of cyber safety and how they can contribute to keeping themselves safe online. One of the most important things to remember, however, is the age of the child that you are dealing with. Often it can be difficult to broach topics of safety online which keeping conversations to a level that a child will understand and not be afraid of, but it is important to understand that most children will not be accessing the internet without constant supervision until they are old enough to understand a conversation on cyber safety.

Explaining Personal Security

One of the important things to make sure that children understand is that just because they are hiding behind a computer screen does not mean that they are hidden from predators. Predators can be lurking anywhere online, behind childlike names and in children focused chat rooms and it is essential that children are aware of this and do not share personal information. Many times it is easier for younger children to understand when comparing this to talking to strangers on the street. While your child cannot see who they are talking to, they must still keep their personal information secure such as their age, address, phone number, e-mail address, location, schedule and financial information of the family. Any one of these pieces of information can be utilized by a predator to track or target a child for theft or other activities. Children should be instructed repeatedly never to share this information with anyone even if they know them in person, rather if personal information needs to be shared with anyone known in person it should be done over the telephone or the next time that person is seen.

Teaching a Child What to Look For

Part of teaching children how to avoid becoming the target of a predator online is to teach them what to look for in a predator. Teaching a child to be predator aware involves not only knowing the warning signs that someone is a predator but also knowing how predators work to gain the trust and friendship of children so that these things can be seen before the child becomes a target. When taking part in online activities children should be alert to certain predator grooming techniques that are used to befriend the child, these techniques include:

• Entering chat rooms that hold specific interest to a child in order to “have something in common” with the child.

• Looking for screen names and online handles that suggest that an internet user is a child.

• Looking through screen name or online handle profiles to find out as much information as possible about a child so that the predator can connect with the child privately.

• Striking up a conversation with a child based on their interests or common trends for children of their age group.

• Showing interest in a child’s current life situation or favorite hobbies in order to gain their trust and make a new friend.

• Building children up by boosting their confidence and making them feel as though they are understood.

Children need to understand that if they experience any of these types of interactions that they need to directly communicate with a parent or trusted adult figure what they witnessed. Children should also be instructed that if they experience any of the warning signs listed above that they should ignore the individual initiating contact and leave the chat room or instant message conversation without addressing the potential predator.

Parental Awareness

Parents too should always be alert and keep their eyes out for signs that their child may be interacting with a child predator online. There is a list of predator warning signs that can be very helpful for parents faced with a potential child predator. Some of the potential activities that could indicate that a child is involved in such activity are:

• Spending far too much time online despite time limits that have been set or suddenly spending more time than usual online.

• Finding pornography on your child’s computer.

• Noticing that your child is receiving gifts, mail and phone calls from people that you have never heard of before and do not know.

• Over hearing your child talking about meeting up with other individuals but denying it to you or simply refusing to share information on the meeting.

• Your child withdraws completely from their normal social activities or family time spent at home in order to interact online.

• Your child quickly switches their internet screen when they see or hear you approaching. Switching the internet screen can be done with a click of a mouse or it can be done by holding ALT and pushing Tab.

• Finding other e-mail or instant messenger accounts on your child’s computer that you were not aware of.

If you observe your child exhibiting any of these behaviors it is important to address the matter directly but to also do it with sensitivity to your child and what they are experiencing. Approaching the situation with your child may be difficult but it is best done with a cool and level head by expressing concern to your child over what they may or may not be experiencing. It is important not to approach the situation with a hot head or to accuse your child of doing something that they may not necessarily be doing. There are occasions when the symptoms above may be displayed as a result of another incident that is taking place in your child’s life so giving your child the opportunity to explain their actions is important. While some children may feel compelled to tell the truth when confronted with signs that they are interacting with an online predator, others may feel compelled to lie because they feel as though the predator that they are interacting with understands them and is their friend. Dealing with this type of situation can be particularly difficult and may require the intervention of a professional in addition to removal of internet access while the child is assimilated back to their life without the predator in it.

Understanding the Risks

With such a high incidence of predation happening online it is important that parents understand that there is a relatively high likelihood that without the appropriate education their child could fall prey to an online predator. It is crucial that when a child is handed the key to internet access that they fully understand how to use that key properly and protect themselves from danger. When it comes to children who are simply too young to fully comprehend the dangers that exist on the internet there should be strict supervision of their online access. Not all children are able to monitor their own activity and younger children certainly fall in to this category which is why they should be monitored at all times. One difficulty that parents often come across is that these days’ children are younger and younger when they first get their hands on smart phones and laptops that allow them unlimited access to the internet, this opens up the gateway for predators all over the globe to step in to their lives. As a parent you may feel pressured in to buying your child these internet access points so that they do not feel left out among their friends; however, as a responsible parent it is sometimes best to keep these things from your child. Some parents also find that they can compromise by purchasing these things for their children but monitoring their use, for example allowing laptops to be used only when an adult is around to supervise the child.

As a parent though, it is important to understand that while you can do everything in your power to keep your child from becoming a target of cyber predators when it all comes down to it there is only so much that you can do. Give your child the education to protect themselves and implement as many security techniques as you can and the rest is up to trusting your child’s instincts and being a watchful parent.