4 Rules to Set For Your Kids on Social Media
Do you have a hard time keeping your kids away from social media? If you’re like the majority of modern parents, you probably do. Since social media platforms aren’t going anywhere any time soon, keeping an eye on your children’s activities and teaching them how to behave while online is essential to protecting your kid’s privacy on social media.
To help you set clear and attainable boundaries for your little one, we’ve created a basic set of rules children can follow easily to protect their safety and privacy on social media.
1. Connect only with people you know
According to a 2021 FBI report, more than 500,000 predators are actively preying on children daily, with more than half of the victims being preyed on between the ages of 12 and 15. Advise your children to accept friend requests only from people they’ve met and report any unknown individuals trying to connect with them. Also, advise them to block suspicious social media users and teach them to identify scammers trying to reach out to them.
2. Never share personal information with people online
Sharing personal information online can be extremely dangerous. Children are often unaware of the potential consequences of oversharing online. For instance, America is facing a spike in swatting incidents where online gamers create hoax calls to deceive emergency services, most commonly the police, into responding to a false emergency report. Unfortunately, perpetrators need as little as an address and a name to send a SWAT team to someone’s house and put them in danger. Remind your children to avoid sharing personal information with anyone online, regardless of how much they trust them.
3. Be polite and don’t get involved in arguments
Social media can quickly become a highly hostile environment, especially for children. The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre published a report revealing that around 50% of children and teenagers between the ages of 10 and 18 experienced cyberbullying at least once. To avoid getting tangled in violent online arguments, teach your children to treat others with kindness and respect. Encourage them to participate in facilitating positive online conversations and report bullying and harassment whenever they encounter it.
4. Use strong passwords
Alongside online predators, another risk kids are facing on social media are cybercriminals. They have a wide range of methods of gathering sensitive personal data they can consequently use to harm their victims and endanger their privacy. Remind your children to use unique passwords for each online account and avoid using easily guessable terms like their name, birthday, or pet names. Also, teach them the importance of keeping their credentials private and protected.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, we can’t completely protect our children from the threats they may face online. But we can teach them how to use technology responsibly and behave in the online environment. Remember to foster an open conversation with your children and encourage them to open up about any negative experiences they may have.
