Internet Safety
I have a 5 year old so I have yet to deal with internet safety issues personally. I know I will need to start teaching him soon. How much control should I have over his access? Some believe that teens should have no monitoring by parents and to trust they will do what's best.
On the other side of the argument are parents trying to keep kids safe by monitoring their social media. Take a look at this heart breaking story about a family that lost their son because he thought he was buying pharmaceutical drugs online. It turns out they were pure fentanyl. The parents aren't totally against social media, but want certain companies (Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat) to work with them on using monitoring software/apps.
My heart goes out to these parents. May they find some peace in the advocacy that they have started to prevent what happened to their son to other children.
So where do we start? When do we get involved? I think it's important to start talking about it early. Heck, I had to teach my four year old about not clicking on ads for online education games. Maybe we start simple, like starting with letter sounds for reading. I don't believe it's all about parental controls but it should be a combination of education, discussion, and monitoring. It will always be a hard job to keep our kids safe whether if it's in the virtual or physical world.
So glad you brought this up and you are right! Education, discussion, and monitoring!!! It is a combination of parents not using the internet as a baby sitter, but using it intentionally, wrapping safety and online etiquette in there as well. Maybe you could start a blog for your child, their friends, include parents, and start some discussions? I remember standing outside of every public bathroom my sons went into with my foot in the door having a loud conversation with the child while he was in there. I was never embarrassed when I got a dirty look from a man entering or exiting the bathroom. If only there was only a way to replicate this online. You should have heard me when the youngest was online. “Do you know these people you are playing with?” “Are all of these friends people you know?” “Who is this?” It drove him nuts; at least he know I cared.
ReplyDeleteknew I cared . . .
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