How to Teach Children to Safely Engage Online and Supporting Parent Conversations

• Date: 03 April 2018
• reading time: 3 Minutes Minutes
• Blogger: Gurby Bulo
• E-mail: [email protected]

How to Teach Children to Safely Engage Online and Supporting Parent Conversations

To celebrate Safer Internet Day this year, hopes for a better internet, for everyone, especially for younger generations. By empowering parents, better internet for kids can happen. Parents still see themselves as well as how they should use it. This has been helped in guiding the development of Messenger Kids app. By letting parents control their kids 'accounts and contacts on the Messenger Kids' control panel, children can have safer online environment because they are not allowed to talk to more trusted contacts.

This year, it is also hoped that parents have talks with their kids about technology and the choices that they make online.

There are ways to keep your kids safe online. Here are a few suggestions:

Tell your child that same rules apply online or offline.

Be sure to tell your child that you should think first before sharing some information online. Also, let them know about security and safety tools available on apps and their devices for their own safety.

Be the best role model.

Your child sees what you do, so do things online or offline that your child could emulate. If you say that you are in control of what you need to do.

Engage with your child online early and more often.

Talk to your child online. Add them as a friend on your messenger or when they create a social media account. Get to know their friends and they are connected with.

Set the rules when going online and know the tools to use.

When your child gets their first smart phone, laptop or tablet, you can use them for their devices. Show them how to use the device and basic tools on apps that they use. Teach them how to report content and how to know who does not have good intentions.

Let your children teach you about tools they use online.

Sometimes, children are more knowledgeable about certain apps than we are. So, better learn from these sources but also have conversations with them about safety, privacy, and security. These are very important when your child goes online.

As parents, you do not want to compromise your child's safety, which is why Facebook is investing in research about kids and technology. The social media company have partnered with independent academics on research about kids, tweens, teens, and technology. The intention is to study the connection between the well-being of young people and how they use digital technology. This will start on Global Safety Network Summit in Washington, DC, this coming March.

Facebook has also launched Parents Portal for parents. Here you will find the latest information on development experts, academicians, leaders and people at Facebook that has knowledge about topics related to kids and technology. Videos and Q & As, to interactive polls, will also be available for parents in order to express their thoughts. Visit facebook.com/Safety/Parents/Conversations to know more about how you can keep your child safe online.

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• Blogger: Gurby Bulo
• E-mail: [email protected]
• Online Marketing Strategy Expert at Social Media Gids
• Internet entrepreneur Gurby Bulo is the Founder of Social Media Gids and host of @SMG Hangout. With his virtual team, they follow the latest online marketing developments because they like it ;-) and to provide you with information, strategies and support necessary to increase your online marketing knowledge, sales and growth on your way to (financial) freedom.
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