Today, the 6th of Feb is Internet Safety Day. This year, Safer Internet Day is focusing on the theme of ‘Create, Connect and Share Respect – A better internet starts with you’. Let’s focus this year on how as parents we can keep our Kids safe online.
Online Safety for Children – Are Parents Doing Enough?
Equifax had commissioned a study (link) about parents attitudes to the safety of their child online, which came out with some interesting insights.
- Only 30% of parents are a friend or follower of their child’s social media accounts
- Just 1 in 5 parents confiscate internet-enabled devices at bedtime to reduce internet use
- 80% of parents never check their children’s Internet-enabled gadgets to see what they are sharing
These numbers seem to imply that even though parents are worried about their children’s online safety, not many are playing an active role in this responsibility. Internet safety expert Russell Winnard from Young Enterprise comments: “If parents are not regularly checking their children’s smartphones or tablets – not just the posts visible to those parents who do actually follow their accounts – they could be missing vital clues. Some parents believe they are doing their bit by following their children’s accounts, but this does not take into account the fact that a child could be putting themselves at risk with the information, messages and content they send and receive privately.
We, as parents, have to play an active role in helping our kids navigate through the Internet and Social Media. Equifax has provide a few more resources to help us with keeping our data, gadgets, home and family safe on the Internet.
Internet Safety Handbook
The first is a downloadable 30-page e-booklet which covers some of the basics of Internet Security. Here are some of the topics covered in the booklet:
- Tips for staying safe online
- Password Safety and Tips
- How to keep your information secure on Social Media – What not to share and privacy settings
- What do you do if you are a victim of fraud
- Keeping kids safe online
Here’s where you can view and download this booklet: Online Safety Handbook
Smart Gadgets and Safety
Did you that some of our Smart Gadgets which we have at home could potentially help fraudsters steal our data? Here’s an infographic which gives a room-by-room look at what kind of data each of these devices is sending out into the big unknown cloud out there.
Image Credit: Photo by Daniel Cheung on Unsplash