Parent Resources
Technology changes at such a rapid pace, it is sometimes difficult to keep up with the new devices, apps and websites your children may want to use. Research shows that the best advice for parents is to continuously talk to kids and teens about technology and being online. Suggestions include:
Talk Early and Often
Create an Honest, Open Environment
Initiate Conversations
Communicate Your Values
Be Patient
OnGuardOnline from the Federal Trade Commission provides an excellent resource entitled Chatting with Kids About Being Online. It includes advice for parents of kids at different ages and covers topics such as socializing online, communicating online, and protecting your pre-teen's privacy.
The resources listed on this page are some of the valuable ones that can be used to help children learn about digital safety and citizenship.
Be Internet Awesome
Be Internet Awesome is a digital safety and citizenship program that we use for K-4 students from Google. Students learn through an online game that teaches them how to be:
Smart - Share with Care
Alert - Don't Fall for Fake
Strong - Secure Your Secrets
Kind - It's Cool to Be Kind
Brave - When in Doubt, Talk it Out
In addition to Educator resources, Google provides a number of Family Resources which include a Family Guide, Family Pledge, a Digital Wellbeing Family Guide designed to help you tackle the tough tech questions and a Family Link Parent's Guide, which is Google's version of helping you set digital ground rules with your children.
Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media is another digital safety and citizenship program that we use for K-12 students. One of the things Common Sense is known for is their expert reviews on the movies, TV shows, books, video games, apps and websites that kids and teens use. The Parents Need to Know section groups topics by:
Age - Preschoolers, Little Kids, Big Kids, Tweens and Teens
Topic - advice by topic including social media, cellphones, and screen time
Parent Guides - short videos and thorough guides on topics such as Fortnite, YouTube, Discord, and Twitch.
ConnectSafely.org is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping users understand technology safety, privacy and security. On this website, you will find:
Quick Guides - short (2 page) guides on topics such as Cyberbullying, Teen Sexting, Cybersecurity, and Instagram.
Parent Guides - guidebooks that help you understand the popular apps and services being used by kids and teens today including TikTok, Roblox, Instagram, and Snapchat.
Parental Controls
Parental controls are available on most devices and even on individual apps and websites. They help you filter, monitor, and/or block your child's activities. The use of parental controls is a family decision and these resources are available for you to learn more about them and how to set them up if you choose.
Entertainment Software Rating Board - Parental Controls - specifically for video game use.
Stay Safe Online - Parental Controls - here you will find a brief overview of parental controls with links to ISP controls.
Common Sense Media - Parent's Ultimate Guide to Parental Controls - provides information on parental controls for various devices and websites.
Internet Matters - Parental Controls - provides drop down lists of how to setup parental controls broken out by categories - Smartphones and other Devices, Entertainment and Search Engines, Broadband and Mobile Networks, and Social Media.