Well hello dear blog readers,
In todays bog I will talk about different ways we can keep our children safe online. Now, some of this blog will mainly apply to our older children, however, some of them can relate to our toddlers and pre-schoolers accessing technology too. This blog is not intended to scaremonger or shame, instead its aim is to highlight some of the dangers and how we can minimise them.
Technology has come so far and can help us in so many ways. It has opened up a wealth of opportunities and is changing how we lead our lives, so much so that we are becoming reliant on it. Children are potentially spending too much time with these items that it could get in the way of real human interaction or coming before more important things such as homework, after school activities and other forms of social interaction. It is linked with the rise in childhood obesity, lack of development in speech and social skills to name a few.
How can we minimise the negative effects with our children then? We could start by setting time limits on tablet, smartphone and console usage. You could set times and restrictions on their usage, such as an hour before dinner and have dinner as a time to share how your days went etc. This reinforces social skills as it is asking and responding to questions as well as being an active listener. It should also be a safe space to talk freely without the fear of judgement. It sounds like a really simple solution, but more often than not, children don’t always feel as if they can talk to their parents about sensitive things such as if they are being bullied, or if they are worried about something. Even if not all the family eat together, you can still sit with your children at the table and share that time with them. It’s also a good time for us adults to take a break from technology too scrolling through social media, replying to emails or all the other many uses for our phones these days. Small interactions are so important and can have a huge impact. The conversations may not always be rosy and full of delightful things, sometimes, they may be so mundane and nothing really special has happened. However, things may crop up about their day that they aren’t sure how to process. So what should you do if it does come up?
During these conversations/topics, it can be difficult to not chastise as doing so could cause the child to withdraw or keep silent. If they say something that you feel was wrong such as they have been talking to people they shouldn’t online or something inappropriate happened at school, educate instead of telling off and going straight for the negative. Explain to them why what happened wasn’t the right thing to do. Are they okay? Was anything inappropriate said or asked for? Thank you for telling me. This way, if something does happen in the future or if things continue, they won’t feel the need to hide it because they feel they have done the wrong thing or they have been “naughty.” Instead, they can open up and talk to you about it and talk about what happens next. This is another reason it is important for us adults to remember to have a break from our tablets and smartphones. We should always seem approachable; nothing is so important that we are “too busy” when it comes to having a conversation with our children.
It might also be a good idea to restrict tablet usage to a common/shared space. That way, you can keep an eye on what they are accessing on their tablet and aren’t playing games or accessing things that are not age appropriate. Age ratings are there for a reason and unlike an actual game shop, children don’t have to provide proof of age on apps to access them and if one is required it is very easy to enter an incorrect age. Therefore, it is a wise idea to make sure you, as a parent or carer, have given your permission before they download it. Although social networking sites such as Facebook and Instagram have a minimum age on them, there are many games sites aimed at younger children that have social networking capabilities such as Moshi Monsters. It is important to have a discussion about sharing information online such as where they live, their passwords and other sensitive information.
If your child is accessing the internet, you can change the settings on your home broadband to prevent them accessing inappropriate sites. This can also be done on Google and YouTube individually to prevent them from searching for inappropriate things. Games consoles, smartphones and tablets all have these capabilities too. However, they are not always 100% reliable or only reliable to a certain degree. This is another reason why it is important to monitor what is being accessed.
Now, briefly onto toddlers and pre-schoolers. They aren’t likely to understand a conversation about what they should or shouldn’t be accessing. I have seen it many times where a younger child has been given a tablet or smartphone to watch something on YouTube and then the next time you look, they aren’t watching what you put on for them. They are watching something completely unrelated. Whilst on a course for internet safety the leader stated “on YouTube, you are never more than 6 clicks away from seeing something that is not age appropriate”, so, a simple solution? Do not let them watch YouTube or other video sites without supervision.
If they are playing games and the next thing you know they have downloaded a different
game I have another very simple solution. Airplane mode. Airplane mode completely stops anything coming in or out of the device. So, no internet, no adverts for them to accidently click on, no pop ups, no access to the play store. This is probably the safest solution to use with our toddlers and pre-schoolers. It is so easy to hand a young one a tablet or smartphone to keep them quiet for 5 or 10 minutes so that you can quickly do something such as wee in peace, start dinner, sort the washing out but just be careful that this isn’t happening too often. Whilst children need to access technology and it has many pros and cons and the fact that technology is impacting our life so much more than it ever was, let kids be kids.
It is becoming more common for children to lack simple interaction skills. We see more and more children start nurseries without simple communication and play skills because they are not always being given the opportunity to. There are so many free and/or easily accessible things for young ones to do in the local area to develop these simple skills. Experiences such as stay and play sessions/groups and free sessions at a soft play centre. These are a good way for parents and carers to make friends too and form little groups. My mum is still friends with another parent she met at a play group nearly 28 years later!
I really hope that this blog post has helped shed some light on internet and technology safety. If I have missed anything or you would like more information, there are lots of free resources available online to look at. Internet Matters is well worth looking at and Which? also has great advice on internet/tech safety too.
So, thank you for reading and keep your eyes peeled for the next blog post by Terrie!
Josh and the Squirrels.