Lets face it, online bullying is a serious issue. Whoever you are, where ever you are, you will at some point, find yourself dealing with it. So it’s time to consider the best ways to prepare for it and deal with it with your children. Thanks to Norton by Symantic, we’ve got these helpful hints for you.
- Have open conversations around cyber bullying and cyber security
Encouraging an open dialogue about what constitutes safe and unsafe online behaviour is critical for parents to understand what is happening in their children’s digital lives. Defining what cyber bulling is and giving examples of how to identify unsafe behaviour is a great place to start. It is important to reiterate that your children should always feel comfortable to vocalise any worries they have about cyber bullying to you, no matter if it concerns themselves or another person. - Teach your child not to reply to unknown senders or callers
It is important for children to understand the risks of talking to strangers, online and offline. Helping children understand the value of personal information is important to ensure they don’t give it away unwittingly. Details such as where they go to school, where they live, or their age, should not be shared to protect your children’s privacy and identity. - Set online safety rules according to the ages of your children
In establishing rules and guidance for how to approach online interactions, consider the age and maturity of your children. Whatever rules you set should be discussed collaboratively with the children as individuals to encourage respect for parameters they assisted in setting. - Be a good online citizen
Teach your children to practice good online etiquette and to understand the importance of quality screen time. For example, instead of engaging in online chat rooms, encourage your children to play an educational online game. By spending time with your child online, you will be able to advise where they can reduce negative screen time and replace it with something more constructive. - Take an active role to protect your child’s online use
Use an online security tool with parental controls to help monitor screen time and block unsafe sites and games that may put your child at risk. Norton Family parental control software helps protect your children from online predators by showing you what they are doing online and identifying potential dangers before they become problems.
For more information on raising digital natives visit https://au.norton.com/internetsecurity-kids-safety-raising-digital-natives.html