5 Ways to Keep Your Child Safe Online

*Collaborative Post

As parents, we are all very much aware that the digital world is extremely important and useful when it comes to our children’s learning. From interactive games to quizzes, apps such as Education City and Times Tables Rockstars to simply watching educational shows/excerpts on YouTube, there is a lot that they can utilise and access but how do we ensure that our children stay safe online at all times?

VPN Protection

One effective way to protect their online presence is through the use of a Virtual Private Network (VPN). A VPN encrypts internet traffic, shielding sensitive information from potential cyber threats. This encryption ensures that your child’s online activities remain private and secure, regardless of the network they’re connected to. With the best VPN provider you can add an extra layer of protection to your child’s online learning experience. For example, Surfshark has advanced features like MultiHop and CleanWeb, which will both help to enhance the overall online safety of your child. MultiHop routes internet traffic through multiple servers, bolstering anonymity, while CleanWeb works to block malicious content at the network level, creating a safer online browsing environment.

If your child uses your phone regularly it is also worth adding security to this too. You can find many options online including the best VPN for iPhone here.

Combatting Online Bullying

One of the most pressing concerns in the online space is the prevalence of cyberbullying. As our children immerse themselves in virtual classrooms and social networks, they can become more susceptible to harassment and intimidation from peers. As a parent you can play a pivotal role in mitigating the risks associated with cyberbullying firstly by ensuring that you have an open communication with your children and are able to educate them about responsible online behaviour and secondly by closely monitoring your children’s online interactions. By encouraging empathy and kindness and creating a safe space for them to open up to you in, you can help them to navigate this part of the online world.

Parental Controls

Another great tool that we have at our fingertips are parental controls. These are usually found within the settings of an app or webpage and will enable you to set limits on screen time, block inappropriate content and monitor online activity. If your child uses the internet alone you can also set a timer to shut off the Wi-Fi reducing the risk of them deep diving somewhere they shouldn’t be and to also restrict screen time.

Child-Restricted Access

With the vast expanse of online content, we know that not all of this material is suitable for children. In order to prevent exposure to inappropriate content, you can further utilise your parental control by accessing content filtering tools. These will help to establish age-appropriate content that your child is allowed to view and create a safer online environment for them. I would recommend regularly reviewing and updating content filters to ensure that nothing is accidentally getting through.

Stay Safe and Have Fun

As daunting as the online world can be we do need to embrace it as this is the digital era that our children are growing up in. Ultimately, the best thing we can do is put all of these above steps into place, foster a positive and enjoyable online experience for our children and empower them to make informed decisions. If you want to take it up a notch, you can take a cybersecurity course, so you can better protect your household from cyber threats.

So, there we have it, VPNs are a great tool for enhancing online security, cyberbullying can and does happen but with your help it can be prevented, parental controls and content filtering are there for a good reason so do utilise these functions and just keep a close eye on what they are accessing. By approaching online safety in this way you can most definitely create a safe and supportive digital environment where your children can learn and explore and have fun.

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