Providing a Safe Environment for our Children Online

[RogersYasmine]

In today’s world, you can find almost anything online. From social media outlets to streaming videos to online gaming and more—it’s all at our fingertips and the possibilities are endless! Even though it’s a great place to connect with loved ones, meet new friends and stay entertained, it can also give way to not so nice things like cyberbullying, loss of privacy, viruses, malware, and unfortunately, predators. So, how can we keep those most precious to us, our children, safe and sound? Here are some good tips on how to get started.

For Parents:

Start the Conversation:

• Get involved, start educating early and often. Be aware of what kids do online and start the conversation about online safety. Important topics to discuss include:
• Online risks and consequences. Be open about the dangers of being online and let your kids know that they can go to you or their teachers if they see something that makes them uncomfortable.  
• What goes online, stays online.  Posts and pictures can be copied and shared; always pause before sharing or posting something. Never share or post information about other people without their permission.
• Encourage kids to keep their account settings to private and to only connect with people they know in real life.
• Cyberbullying – what it means, how it can happen, how they can help and why it’s important to report it to a trusted adult.

Be Proactive!

• Set boundaries and rules for time spent online. You can limit the amount of screen time each day for different user profiles and view summaries of the time spent on popular apps and websites using the Ignite WiFi Hub app included with Ignite Internet from Rogers.
• Turn on parental controls and network protection. The Ignite WiFi Hub app also offers easy parental controls to help ensure your little ones are accessing kid-friendly sites, as well as Advanced Security cyberthreat protection to automatically block online threats 24/7 and alert you to suspicious activity on your home network.
• Research social media apps that your kids might be using. Understand how they work and who your kids may be interacting with online.
• Turn off geotagging. Explain to your kids that geotagging photos and posting them can expose their exact locations to strangers.

For additional tips on keeping kids safe online, check out some of the content from the Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst here.

We hope you find this information helpful! Please feel free to share your own thoughts, tips, and advice in our comments section below. We’d love to hear from you!