As dads and father figures, it’s important to start conversations with children about being safe online.
Technology has changed the way we live, work, communicate and learn significantly over the last few decades. Although these developments are largely advantageous, they do not come without risks. Cyber Safety has become a major concern of parents around the world as their young children become more exposed to technology.
Children are becoming exposed to an abundance of dangers in the online world, such as pornography, cyber bullying, predators, scamming, malwares, and online gambling and gaming. The answer is not however, removing the technology from our children.
As Father’s you have an incredible ability to shape your child’s behaviours and ideas about online behaviour and cyber safety. Get the conversations going early to instil the right behaviours in your child. Remember you can and do make a real difference. Start now to guide your child’s behaviour and help keep them safe.
Top tips on how to start the conversation with your child about online safety
- Start the conversation. Get into the habit of talking about online safety as a family, so your child feels comfortable coming to you if they ever need help working out an issue. As your child grows older, Beacon’s advice about hard to have conversations will help with some of the tricky topics like sending nudes, online pornography and contact from sexual predators.
- Set limits on screen time. Set time limits that balance time spent in front of screens with offline activities.
- Create a family technology agreement. A Family Technology Agreement can help you and your kids decide together when and how digital technology will be used at home. As a family, you can use the Beacon app to create easy-to-follow rules and you can print and display your agreement.
- Keep digital devices in communal areas. Allow digital devices only in areas of your home that can be supervised. Check in regularly with your child to see what they’re viewing.
- Become tech savvy. Try to stay up to date. The easiest way to do this is to Ask your child about the sites or apps they are currently using at the moment and show you how to use them.
