Happy Australia Day from gizmo!
January 27th 2012 04:08
Keeping kids cyber safe
There is never a better time to talk to the children in our lives about staying cyber safe than when the year is really gearing up. Whether they've been using the internet for a couple of years already, or will start to during this school year, setting them up with good internet practices and smarts will ensure they have a safer online experience.
Here’s what we know*:
Children as young as 8 are exposed to inappropriate materials online which includes:
being contacted by someone unknown, asking for personal details
being teased or bullied.
How are they exposed? Via chat rooms, instant messaging and social networking for example. All can seem quite innocent on the surface, but if you can’t see the other person how do you really know who they are and their true intentions? Whether it’s an online predator or school bully, cyber ‘Stalking’ and cyber ‘Bullying’ is real and it does happen.
2 in 5 children have tried to hide what they do on the internet from their parents.
What they try to hide is often different for boys and girls. Girls for example are more inclined to give personal information online to strangers and don’t like to admit it, whereas boys are more likely to download illegal files or search for pornography.
While there are parental controls that you can put in place to help set limits on a child’s internet experience, nothing beats having an open dialogue with them about cyber safety. gizmo can not only help you by gearing you up with the best communication tips on how to approach different situations they may face in big wide web world, but get you up to speed as to what technology they are using, the language they use e.g. POS! (which means Parent Over Shoulder!), how they are using technology, and of course making sure that the technology they do use is at least protected with the basics such as anti-virus.
If you’re interested in a complimentary booklet we’ve put together with more hints and tips titled ‘A parents guide to the internet’, email us here.
*Source: Online Child Protection Study 2010 (Lonergan Research).
Have more questions or need help? Contact Gizmo on 1300 428 692 or help@gizmo.com.au
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