4 Reasons to be Extra Careful of your Kids’ Safety on the Internet

Here’s to a safe and secure online space for the kids!

Research shows that young kids don’t go looking for trouble online. But trouble definitely comes looking for them! So you should feel safe to assume that companies who provide online content for kids would do everything to ensure that trouble has no way of finding your child, right? Wrong! The truth is that the internet couldn’t care less about your child’s safety. Here are four reasons why…

Open Doors

When your child is on a website, they’re not just on that website. All kids’ websites have open doors that can lead your child to virtually anywhere in the crazy world of cyberspace. So for example, there may be links they can click on that take them out of that website to another kids’ website, or there may be links they click on that take them to other non-kids’ websites like parent or teacher resources, or there may be links that take them into websites that simply are not designed to keep kids safe. It’s not unusual to find links to social media sites despite the fact that all social media has a lower age limit of 13. And once your kid is on a social media site, they’re free to travel to anywhere on that site viewing everything it has to offer, the majority of which is not created for young eyes to see.

Open Chat

This one’s a bit of a shocker, so brace yourself! I recently discovered that some big-name children’s websites allow their members (and sometimes non-members) to chat with each other without restriction. I know, right? Open Chat or Open Message Boards, where an adult posing as a kid can easily interact with a child, are relatively commonplace. Yes, you will find mention of it somewhere in the website’s Terms and Conditions but who has time to read them? And more importantly, why offer it in the first place when it’s simply an opportunity for trouble to call?

Ads

Ads are bright, ads are flashy, ads are glossy and ads are designed to attract the eye. So imagine how attractive they are to kids? All it takes is one click and your child has left the safety of the kids’ website they were on, and moved to a completely different non-kid friendly part of cyberspace. And guess who could be hanging out there? Yup! Trouble.

YouTube

With YouTube now replacing traditional TV for kids, how can we make sure that our kids are safe when watching it? Well, other than sitting beside them for the entire viewing time – which to be fair, none of us really want to do – it’s pretty tricky. If you watch a video on YouTube, you’ll notice a list of suggested videos running down the right-hand side of the screen. Most of these will be similar to the video your child is watching, but not all. A YouTube video creator can label their video anything they choose whether or not it matches the content. So how are you supposed to know for sure that the suggested videos are what they say they are? Even on the Kids YouTube currently available in some territories, the advice is to keep an eye on what they’re watching. If YouTube can’t be sure, then how can we?

So now that you know the truth, what can you do? How can you provide your kids with the fun, educational, online experience they need without inadvertently sending them places they shouldn’t be? Here are some simple guidelines to get you started

• Lock your phones, tablets, laptops and computers. Password protect them or even better, use the new fingerprinting options available on most phones. And if your child has their own device, lock that too. In just the same way that you lock your physical doors and windows as a means of keeping your kids safe, lock all doors and windows into cyberspace so that your kids can only be online when you allow it.
• Think very carefully about getting your kid their own phone. Yes, it’s great to be able to contact them whenever you need to, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to buy a phone contract without data access. And once your child has a data-enabled phone, they have full access to the net. There are alternatives however. Both Samsung and Nokia offer basic phones that allow your kid to call and text you and vice versa without any web access. (I’ve found these models on sale in Worldwide House.)
• When they are online, be vigilant. Know where they are and what they’re doing. If on YouTube, take a look at the video suggestions on the sidebar and check that all are kid-friendly. Choose official YouTube channels like Disney, Nickelodeon, Peppa Pig etc and once there, choose one of their playlists instead of allowing your child to pick videos randomly.
• Or if you would simply like to know that every time your kid goes online, they are in a completely safe, pre-vetted virtual Kids’ Corner – where no ads, pop-ups, inappropriate content, or open chat can ever reach them – consider signing up for our KidsSafetyNet Beta Test. Visit www.kidssafetynet.com where you can sign up for our upcoming Best Test and help make the online world a safer place for all kids. Here’s to kid friendly websites, apps and videos they could possibility want while providing you with the peace of mind you deserve!

Help make the online world a safer place for all kids!