Tips for teaching children to protect themselves from online threats
The trend of Internet addiction in children is increasing day by day. There are too many bad or dangerous effects when children are lured, deceived and even bullied through social networks. The following tips will help children protect themselves.
Detecting child being bullied through social networks
Facebook, Twitter, and many other social networking sites are popular ways for teens to express themselves and connect with the world. Because of their popularity, when your child joins these sites, what they post online, and what they are exposed to online bullying, you can detect it.
Instruct your children to never argue or respond to threats, but instead to record information and report it to their parents and teachers so that adults can find appropriate solutions to protect them.
In addition, show your children that besides the positive side, the internet also has negative and dangerous aspects that children cannot fully anticipate. Instruct your children to limit sharing personal images and information publicly online.
Via text message
Texting is one of the most common ways kids communicate with their friends. It is also a way for bad guys to talk to, bully, harass, and slander children.
Teach your child that if someone texts them with bad or rude words, they should immediately share it with you or an adult in the family so that measures can be taken to stop it, such as contacting the sender's parents or blocking their cell phone so they don't receive messages from that person.
If the content is threatening, it should be reported to local police and the school so that appropriate measures can be taken to protect your child.
When children join chat rooms
As children get older, they may join chat rooms or forums that are popular with teens. Although in most chat rooms and forums participants use nicknames, unbeknownst to them, they can still be identified and their real names can be found out.
If your child is teased or threatened in a chat room or forum, teach them not to respond and immediately block the account of the person who is causing trouble for them. Take screenshots of the threatening statements and immediately report them to a parent or adult in the family.
Being sent pornographic messages and images
When children are sent sexually explicit messages or images, it is the most dangerous form of cyberbullying. Bullies will send dirty messages or obscene images to children in order to seduce, threaten, and intimidate them.
Teach your children to immediately share these documents with their parents or adults because of their dangerous nature, so that parents can take measures to prevent them.
Many children do not talk to their parents about pornography because they are afraid that their parents will be angry with them for associating with the wrong person. As a result, these inappropriate images or messages continue to be sent to the child, and the child feels trapped in fear or worse.
So reassure your child so that they are no longer worried and trust you enough to share with you any risks they encounter.
