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As a parent, protecting your children and keeping them out of harm’s way is your top priority — whether they’re out with friends or playing at home, you probably spend most of your days worrying about their safety.
When it comes to how they engage online, the worries don’t subside, but rather, they often intensify.
The internet has become an essential part of our everyday lives, and kids in Canada are learning how to access the web at young ages, often first in school settings.
As a parent, it’s important to do everything in your power to ensure they’re safely engaging with peers and on any website that they’re able to access — from choosing between the best London Ontario internet providers to the ways you communicate with your children.
When they’re at home, there are steps you can take to help monitor their internet activity and ensure they understand the safest ways to be online.
Table of Contents
Talk Openly
The best way to connect with your children over their online activity is to approach every conversation without judgment and with transparency.
The way you communicate the importance of staying safe online can determine just how much information they’ll absorb.
By creating a safe space where they can ask questions, you can have more effective conversations about their online habits and how their decisions can affect their safety.
Set Strong Passwords
Passwords are the portals to so much of our online activity, from the way we shop to our ability to store important documents on our devices.
A strong password is necessary to help protect your family from online threats.
Teach your children the importance of setting up strong passwords — use a combination of letters and numbers, both uppercase and lowercase, and even punctuation to add a layer of complexity.
This ensures hackers have a more challenging time attempting to access any of your data.
Parental Controls
When it comes to using the internet, we know that even the most innocent of searches can lead to more adult content that is unsuitable for kids.
With the help of parental controls, you can steer your kids away from any questionable websites by limiting their search capabilities to websites that are appropriate for their age group.
Set Your Privacy Settings
The information you share online is crucial to your overall safety and that of your family’s.
When it comes to your child’s devices, ensure your privacy settings are up-to-date so that any personal data is not accessible through malware or hackers.
Be an Example
As a parent, your kids watch everything you do — from your body language to the way you communicate with your partner and the general public.
If you have your kids on social media, it’s important to lead by example.
Show them what it is safe to post and how you communicate with your friends.
If they can see healthy online behavior in their own home, it will certainly influence the way they engage with others.
