How to ensure children's safety online

General Concepts of Child Safety Online and Beyond 

The internet allows for the instant retrieval of vast amounts of information. However, there is a flip side to this coin – online content is not always suitable for a child's psyche, necessitating measures to ensure children's safety on the internet.

 Internet Threats to Children

  • Undesirable Content

This can include scenes of graphic violence, harm to living beings, pornographic material, and more. It is important to understand that sooner or later, a child may encounter such content, no matter how hard you try to prevent it. It is crucial to do what you can to minimize any severe traumatic impact on your son or daughter's psyche. 

What to do to ensure a child's safety online: 

If your child is young, we recommend installing parental controls. Various programs exist that restrict access to suspicious websites, help monitor children's online activities and safety, and limit internet usage time.

  • Cybercrime 

This term encompasses a wide range of legal violations, from extortion of personal data to the involvement of minors in drug trafficking.

What to do to avoid this danger on the internet for children: 

  • Install antivirus software. It will block suspicious programs that a child might accidentally download onto their computer. Additionally, antivirus software will warn the child about clicking on suspicious links that could allow a scammer to remotely control the user's device.
  • Teach your child common sense. They must understand that certain information – such as parents' names and job titles, addresses, social media passwords, and so on – should not be disclosed to anyone.

Explain that the internet allows anyoneanyone. Before meeting a friend found online, it is better to talk to adults. Common sense is one of the main rules of child safety on the internet.

  • Cyberbullying

If a child becomes aggressive, angry, irritable, or jumpy after communicating online, it may be a sign of bullying or conflict. It is possible that the child is being subjected to psychological pressure, harassment, or threats on the Internet.

What to do to ensure child safety online:

    • Discuss the situation with the child and make it clear that you will always support them. Find out what might have caused the situation, who exactly is involved in the unpleasant communication, and how these people behave in real life.
    • The best way to deal with online aggressors is to ignore them. Help your child block them. If students from the same school are involved in the bullying, it is necessary to inform the teacher and the school psychologist. If the situation becomes frightening, collect all evidence (screenshots, photos) and contact law enforcement agencies.

Ensuring child safety on the internet is important, but let's be realistic: it is impossible to create a magical bubble and protect a child from all the bad things that exist in the world. Sooner or later, children online will encounter unwanted content, scary movies, and trauma. Your job is to help, support, and always be there. Always be on the child's side.

 

Senior Assistant to the Vitebsk Transport Prosecutor S.V. Sazonova