October – National Cyber Security Awareness Month. Now that schools are open to classes again, students can restore personal friendships and create new relationships, with social media being a major factor in many of these friendships. But children can have unique risks in cyberspace. Help children remember that cybersecurity should always be a priority, and check out these tips to keep children safe online.
- Raising awareness: help young children learn the basics of internet security using techniques such as online games and videos that will define computer terms (e.g., cyberbullying, netiquette, virus protection) to gain a basic understanding.
- Protect your child’s identity: Remind children never to divulge personally identifiable information, such as name, home address, or phone number, to anyone they don’t know, via email, Twitter, Facebook, or chat. online or message boards. Discuss with your children the risks of communicating with strangers online and sending notes and images in cyberspace. Online games can help children understand how to protect their personal information and the consequences of identity theft.
- Protect your computer: Regular security software updates can protect your family from scammers, hackers, and other online threats that can jeopardize your computer system, and therefore your family’s financial security and other sensitive information. Using security software with automatic updates keeps your technology up to date and reduces the chances of malware or malware being detected.
- Create unique passwords: For online security, ask your children to use different passwords for each online account to prevent others from accessing their personal information. Make sure you keep track of each account and make sure your kids know that strong passwords should include items such as characters, numbers, uppercase and lowercase letters, not names or words that others can easily guess.
- Track your activity online: Tracking children’s online activity can help protect them. Explore the different parental control options and consider the best options for you and your family.
- Preventing Cyberbullying: Cyberbullying – electronic harassment – can happen anytime, anywhere. Teach children to think about what they post about other people online and the consequences these messages can have if they are not kind or mischievous. Also, keep your communication with the child open and talk if you suspect that someone is abusing him.
- Promote good online communication: Use some online games to show children how to make responsible decisions about online communication and learn about the key issues of digital citizenship. Online activities may include, for example, exploring ways to communicate through chat rooms and email.
These are just a few ideas to help your kids stay safe and healthy as they grow up in the digital age.