With school starting, your kids are likely to be coming home with assignments that require using the Internet for research, due dates, downloads and more. While summertime allowed your kids to play outside and spend more time away from the computer, the school year brings them right back to the classroom and the Internet to face potential dangers such as cyberbullying and online predators.
Below are some back-to-school Internet safety tips that can help you protect your kids online.
- Internet protection starts with a conversation. Talk to your kids every day about what they’re doing in school and online.
- Set up ground rules for Internet use in the house, such as how much time they can use the Internet for school work and social media sites, and where and when they can access the Internet.
- Stay up-to-date on social media news, trends and terms.
- Discuss Internet safety with your kids’ teachers and principals. Find out what their school is doing to protect kids from cyberbullying and online predators.
- Create accounts on sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter for a better understanding of how they work, how to use privacy settings and how to report violations.
- Use Internet safety tool TrueCare to monitor you children’s online activities. Receive alerts whenever an adult “friends” your kids or inappropriate content is posted, and know exactly who your kids are talking to online.
- Take advantage of TrueCare’s wealth of resources that keep you informed on social media today.
Visit www.truecare.com/yd/Internet-Safety.htm today for more information on Social Network safety and monitoring. Get news and updates on Twitter by following @TrueCareOnline, or become a fan on Facebook.
