Internet Safety
The internet can be a dangerous neighborhood for everyone, but children and teens are especially vulnerable. From cyber predators to social media posts that can come back to haunt them later in life, online hazards can have severe, costly, even tragic, consequences. Children may unwittingly expose their families to internet threats, for example, by accidentally downloading malware that could give cyber criminals access to their parents' bank account or other sensitive information. Protecting children on the internet is a matter of awareness—knowing what dangers lurk and how to safeguard against them. Although cyber security software can help protect against some threats, the most important safety measure is open communication with your children.
Types of Online Dangers
Cyberbullying - The vast majority, 90%, of teens agree that cyber bullying a problem, and 63% believe this is a serious problem. What’s more, a 2018 survey of children’s online behavior found that approximately 60% of children who use social media have witnessed some form of bullying, and that, for various reasons, most children ignored the behavior altogether. And according to enough.org, as of February 2018, nearly half (47%) of all young people had been the victims of cyber bullying. Social media and online games are today's virtual playground, and that is where much cyber bullying takes place, and it’s operating 24/7. Children can be ridiculed in social media exchanges. Or, in online gaming, their player personas can be subjected to incessant attack, turning the game from an imaginative adventure into a humiliating ordeal that escalate into cyber bullying across multiple platforms and in real-life.
The best foundation for protecting against cyber bullying is to be comfortable talking to your children about what is going on in their lives online and in in real-life (IRL) and how to stand up to bullies. Cyber security software and specialized apps for monitoring your child’s online and mobile activity can help, but nothing will replace an open dialog.
Cyber Predators - These days sexual and other predators often stalk children on the internet, taking advantage of their innocence, lack of adult supervision and abusing their trust. This can culminate in children being lured into dangerous personal encounters IRL. These predators lurk on social media and gaming platforms that appeal to children—the same virtual venues where anonymity facilitates cyber bullying. There, they can exploit not only children's innocence, but also their gift of imagination. "Let's play pretend" is a common and healthy part of online gaming and interaction, but predators can use it as a hook to pull children in.
The FBI offers guidance in safeguarding against predators and other online risks to child safety. However, again, the best protection is regularly talking to your children about what is going on in their day-to-day lives.