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Top Ten Cyber Safety Tips for Parents
Top Ten Cyber Safety Tips for Parents
Posted on 03/07/2019

Top Ten Cyber Safety Tips For Parents


1. Search safely. Use safe search settings for young kids or think about applying filtering software to limit inappropriate exposure. www.kiddle.co is a popular one and it’s power by Google safe search.

2. Keep private things private.  Help your kids understand they should never share their personal information including passwords, photos, names, schools, ages, phone numbers, or addresses.

3. Test drive each site.  Visit each site before your kid's visit to ensure it is age-appropriate. Know what features and content exist to make sure they’re good for your kids.

4. Avoid strangers. Tell your kids that people aren’t always who they say they are in cyberspace or social media. Explain that if someone they don’t know talks to them, they shouldn’t respond, but should let you know, and never open a message from a stranger.

5. Be a good digital citizen! Remind kids that an Internet playground is still a playground and they need to play nicely. A good rule of thumb: If they wouldn’t do something in real life, they shouldn’t do it online. Find out how your children can report intimidating behavior or unkind content on their favorite sites and teach them how to report it.

6. Online cheating is still cheating. Children and teens should not try to deceive others. Teach them to give credit where credit is due and, although it's easy to copy others' work and download things without permission, they should not do it.

7. Centralized home computing.  Keep the computer in a central place so you can see what’s going on and talk with your children about any questionable content or activity.

8. Establish expectations and limits.  Consider regulating the amount of time your children spend online and monitor what they do online.  Set rules and expectations when your child’s level of technical savvy exceeds their better judgment.

9. View your own habits carefully. You are their role models.

10. Be involved and have fun with them! Keeping kids safe and teaching them how to use digital technology responsibly is all about staying involved. Start by showing interest in the sites they visit and the games they play and your job will be a lot easier when they start exploring these technologies more independently.

Here are a few additional resources worth checking out by both students and parents: