Online Safety and Cyber-Bullying Tips For Parents
With our kids glued to their laptops (or smartphones, or tablets…), it’s hard for parents to know exactly what they’re doing online.
Even more troubling, recent statistics from Telstra show that 52% of young people regret posts they have made online, and 82% did not realise the long-term impact of their posts. And now that the new school year has started, the challenge for parents to protect their kids from cyber bullying has never been more important.
Telstra’s Manager of Cyber Safety, Shelly Gorr, said that today’s culture of online sharing has changed society’s notions of privacy forever and that it is important to equip children with tools and advice to participate in the digital world safely.
“Ongoing conversations with your children about cyber safety essentials such as when to share personal information online, handling approaches from cyberbullies and applying social network privacy settings could avoid a lot of regret in the future,” said Ms Gorr.
Rosie Thomas, the cofounder of anti-bullying and leadership organisation Project Rockit, said the Telstra research shows that children heading into the schoolyard armed with digital devices should be empowered to stand up for themselves and others online.
“Social media and the internet is an awesome place for breaking down social barriers and harnessing people power to do the right thing. We need to give young people the tools to make the most of everything the internet offers, including the strength to stand up and be leaders in both the online and offline worlds,” said Ms Thomas.
Here’s how to deal with online safety and cyber-buylling without alienating your kids:
1. Talk with your kids about their digital lives and let your children know you’re always there for them.
2. Protect personal information – teach your children how to turn on privacy settings.
3. Encourage children to ‘think before they click’, to think about content and the consequences of posting it.
4. Be an offline supporter. Encourage kids to have some screen-free time each day and turn off devices at bedtime.
5. Teach kids to treat others the same way they’d like to be treated online and be zero-tolerant to rude or mean online behaviour.
6. Don’t just talk about the right thing to do; be a role model with your own digital habits.
Have you spoken to your kids about online safety and cyber-bullying?