In today’s world, every child is playing a game or communicating with friends online whether it be a video game, on a computer or through their cell phone. With that being said, its extremely important to teach your child some cybersecurity best practices. Here are some statistics to help drive home the importance of teaching your child online safety precautions from the Children's Internet Usage Study done by the Center for Cyber Safety and Education.
The study shows that 98% of children access the Internet sometimes without an adult watching them and 40% of kids in grades four through eight reported they connected or chatted online with a stranger. Of those 40%:
- 53% revealed their phone number to a stranger
- 21% spoke by phone with a stranger
- 15% tried to meet with a stranger
- 11% met a stranger in their own home, the stranger’s home, a park, mall, or restaurant
- 30% texted a stranger from their phone
- 6% revealed their home address to a stranger
Now that we have your attention, please sit your child down each month and share with them the following cybersecurity lessons.
Do NOT talk to strangers.
Teach your children that if you are not family or friends with that person, do not talk to them online or in person. They must not befriend or follow them on any social media or mobile apps. Share with them that they must consult you first before they accept a friend request or message from a person they do not know.
You will not get in trouble for telling your parents about what is happening online.
Whether it be bullying, strange comments or a stranger trying to communicate with your child, make sure they are comfortable talking to you about those things and it is clear they will not be in trouble for bringing something to your attention. ‘If you see something, say something’ can be your motto.
Do not share your address, number or other personal information online.
It can be easy for kids to slip and share personal information online. Make sure your children are being safe, careful, and guarded while playing games and when on social media.
Keep your accounts on high security.
Go to settings and make sure you have all security the highest it can be. Make sure profiles, images, posts, and locations cannot be seen and found by users who are not friends or followers of your child. You can also set up multi-factor authentication to potentially safeguard against hackers.
Don’t make your computer sick.
Explain that things they click on can make the computer sick and not work anymore. It is important to be cautious when considering clicking on links, downloading items and visiting unfamiliar websites.
Anything you say, share or do on the internet is forever.
Make sure your children know that anything done online is forever. Images you send or post, as well as things you say, will always exist – even after they are deleted so be very careful.
Start talking to your children about the above lessons so they can stay safe online. We hope you find these tools helpful for protecting your children from cybersecurity situations.
January 10, 2022 by Banterra Bank
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