Online Safety Tips for Parents as Children Prepare to Distance Learn

Computer safe-ware company Norton has released tips for parents to help monitor their children’s internet activity and to keep them safe as many across the nation prepare to distance learn this semester.

With kids getting ready to head back to school, and some on the computer more for class work, here are some good safety tips.

In terms of social media:

Educate yourself about social media. Start by finding out what kind of apps and sites your child is interested in. Read app reviews, age limits, and fine print.

Get a head start. If you don’t have an account on the social media site your child wants to use, get one. Teach yourself the ins and outs of the site. Make sure you know exactly what they can and cannot do, and decide what they should and shouldn’t do.

Teach your kid about posting on sites. Deleting a post does not mean it’s permanently gone. All their online posts, comments, likes, and shares are a part of their digital footprint. Posting inappropriate content could impact their online reputation. It may not seem like a big deal now, but it could potentially hurt them when they get older and enter college or the job market.

Let your kids know the importance of privacy.Many social media sites request names, dates of birth, school names, and hometown. Teach your children how much personal information is too much information online. And remember that these types of personally identifying information, if exposed in a data breach, could make them vulnerable to identity theft.

Also, make sure to familiarize yourself with the required minimum ages of social media sites. For example, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter requires users to be at least 13 years of age. Popular chat app WhatsApp requires users to be at least 16 years old.

The article also warns to be on the lookout for impostors, avoid questionnaires, and to guard your location at all times.

For more tips, visit: https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-kids-safety-parents-best-practices-to-social-media-security.html