A 10-year old kid registered for YouTube using his real name, his official school email address and claimed that he was 20. Was this your kid?
Luckily for this kid, his mother happened to walk by and see what he had done. She was smart and kept the computer in a common area in the house. But, as she learned, that’s just not enough anymore.
As a parent you hope your kids use their best judgment. But now with the internet, kids are being asked to make decisions that they are not mature enough to make. They don’t understand the consequences of their potential actions and instead think in the “now.”
You need to continually teach your child what is appropriate online behavior for their age. An eight year old doesn’t need a facebook page but perhaps a profile is appropriate for your 16 year old.
And you must check in with them and make sure they are following your guidance. With identity theft growing more common, you want to be sure that your child is protecting their identity as well as yours. You can do this with parental monitoring software, such as McGruff SafeGuard.
Netsmartz has some great age-appropriate internet safety pledges that you can use with your children. The pledges begin with simple rules for the youngest children and become more comprehensive as your child matures.
Make sure you take steps now to protect your child. It’s easier to teach them upfront than to deal with a potentially devastating aftermath if something bad was to happen.
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