In the midst of this global pandemic, children and teens are using the internet at increasing rates. From a source of entertainment, to communicating with teachers and online schooling. It is important that we teach young people how to protect their privacy online as privacy protection has become an essential life skill. This begins with parents leading the way.
Here are some tips on how to protect privacy with your kids in mind:
- Check the privacy settings on the devices your children use to ensure they are optimized to protect how much information is shared by default.
- Explain to your kids that passwords should not be shared with anyone (except parents) and are in place to protect them against identity theft.
- Keep computers in public areas in the house. Try to avoid laptops and smartphones in bedrooms, and set some ground rules (limiting the amount of time they spend on the internet and no devices at the dinner table).
- Remind kids not to talk to strangers online. If they do not know someone, they should not add them as a friend on social media sites and only accept friend requests from people they know in real life.
- Your kids should understand that once they post content online, they no longer have control over it. It can be hard to remove content from the internet. Be conscious of the type of content they are posting.
- Do not panic if your child posts something they shouldn’t have. Help them remove the post, if possible and talk with them about how they can avoid the situation in the future.
These are some tips but if you are looking for more information, the Government of Canada has you covered. Check out their great Keeping Kids CyberSafe site here
And if you are looking for an Ontario internet provider that takes your privacy and security seriously, look no further. Check out our plans here: Coextro
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