Page 65 - Cyber Warnings

● Excessive amounts of time online
● They are receiving messages and calls from people you don’t know
● Withdrawal from friends and activities
● They keep secret social media profiles or email accounts
● Finding porn on their devices
● Dimming screens or shutting windows when you walk near their devices

How To Keep Your Children Safe

It is important that we educate our
children about the dangers online
predators pose. Stress the need
to protect their personal
information and to consider what
information they decide to share
with others online. At the same
time, help them see the danger in
talking with strangers and
potential risks they are inviting into
their life if they do. Finally,
encourage them to avoid sending
explicit photos to other people-
even their friends.

While arming our children with techniques to stay safe online is a great first step, it is extremely
important for parents to be informed and aware of our child’s activity. It’s a great idea to know
and understand the apps (Kik, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Tinder, and Down) our children are using.
We need to monitor their activity and limit access to social media for our younger children.

Most of all, we need to begin a conversation about online predators and dangers lurking online.
By keeping the lines of communication open our children will know they can come to us if they
encounter online predators or suspicious online activity.

About the Author

Born and raised in Austin, TX, Hilary Smith is a free-lance journalist whose
love of gadgets, technology and business has no bounds. After becoming a
parent she now enjoys writing about family and parenting related topics. Hilary
can be reached online at [email protected], via twitter @HilaryS33,
and in her website www.hilarylsmith.wordpress.com

65 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – February 2016 Edition
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