Cyberbullying
Cyberbullies can accompany your children home through their mobile devices.
Although bullying is not a new phenomenon, the internet has drastically changed the landscape of how schools, parents, and children must respond. Previously, even a child who was dealing with severe bullying could at least escape into the safety of their home. Now, however, bullies can follow children into their safest spaces thanks to the internet connected devices that go everywhere with them.
Telling children to ignore a bully doesn’t necessarily work either – even if the devices are turned off, bullies can use the internet to spread hurtful messages or images that have a much wider reach than any note passed in class.
Be aware of your child’s school’s policy on cyberbullying, and stay alert for the signs that your child is being bullied. The sooner the issue can be identified and addressed, the better chance you have of stopping it before it gets out of hand. It’s important to also be aware of your own child’s actions online. Many children are both victims of and participating in cyberbullying themselves. Helping your child practice appropriate behavior online can prevent them from becoming a target.
Screen Time
With appropriate limits, your child can enjoy screen time, but also have plenty of offline activities.
How much screen time is too much? It’s a complex question. Simply banning internet-connected devices until a child reaches their teen or adult years is becoming less and less realistic. Computers, tablets, and smartphones have real value as educational tools as well as entertainment devices. Also, digital communication is the new normal, and eschewing that entirely sets your child up for social isolation and fails to prepare them for adult life.
On the other hand, internet addiction is real, and there is definitely such a thing as too much of a good thing. Balance is the key to managing screen time. Children need firm limits on when and how much they can use their devices, and establishing these limits now will help them learn to set limits for themselves later in life. They also need encouragement to participate in offline, non-screen based activities.
Online Predators
It’s no secret that predators have learned how to use the internet to find and exploit vulnerable children. Protecting your child from scary strangers is no longer just a matter of telling them not to get in strange cars or answer the door when they’re home alone. Children may feel safe in anonymous forums and apps, posting from their own homes, and they can easily be led to reveal too much to the wrong person.
Teach your child how to stay safe on social media and in apps. They should know how to hide their personal information and how to report and block any inappropriate communications they receive in a given online environment. Communication is key here as well. You should know where your children are going online and who they’re talking to.
A parental control app can help you provide the limits and monitoring that your children need to stay safe in the digital age. To find out how you can use this tool to help meet parenting challenges, try it for free.
Join the conversation