It’s 2024, and being online is a normal part of childhood. Kids can access everything from schoolwork to games with friends and family movie night, and there are many digital tools to help our kids learn and grow. Unfortunately, there are also safety risks that come with a digital presence. As parents, we can prepare to guide our children as they learn how to navigate this digital world responsibly.
From the beginning, introduce online activity as a shared interaction. In the same way you’d know what book your child picked up at the library, normalize the fact that your child’s online presence isn’t private. Keeping computers in shared spaces can make monitoring activity easier. Draft a family online safety agreement that you update every six months. You can find a template for younger kids and one for teens from the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) to get started.
Common Sense Media has an online safety portal that’s an excellent place to start if you need an internet safety refresher. These resources will give you kid-appropriate language to use when broaching these topics.
Set Up Parental Controls
If your kids have access to their own devices or accounts on shared systems, you should always set up parental controls. On most devices, these controls allow you to set screentime limits, restrict content by age, require approval for installing new apps or making purchases, and send usage statistics to your parental account. You can find step-by-step guides for Apple products, Microsoft accounts, and Windows that will guide you through the process. Make sure your kids know you’ve set these controls and see you check their activity regularly.
However, it’s essential to understand what parental controls do and do not affect. Most device controls won’t apply to every installed program or app, so investigating controls for specific apps is key. Don’t overlook services like wireless routers and smart home systems that might need controls, too. This comprehensive list can point you to parental control guides for a wide range of online interfaces in these categories:
- Social Media
- Browsers
- Cable and Wireless Providers
- Smart Home Devices
- Streaming Media
- Gaming
Install a Standalone Parental Control App
Many parents agree that the system-based parental controls don’t provide enough coverage and information for their peace of mind. For one thing, you have to continuously update the controls when you install a new app or expand your services. Standalone parental control apps are one way to increase your access to your child’s devices and online behavior.
Some of the best parental control apps require a paid subscription, but most parents say peace of mind is worth the cost. These apps let you track your child’s online presence in real-time, follow their location, get alerts for your set preferences, and even remotely restrict their access. The best app for your family will likely change over time as your kids grow and have more responsibilities and independence.
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Spend Time Online as a Family
Children learn how to navigate new situations through observation and trial and error. Just as we model how to confront a tough interaction with a friend or handle an unexpected emergency at the park, we must model online safety best practices. Our kids rarely see us interact with online resources beyond streaming services for family movie night, so setting up times to be online together is crucial. Here are a few interactions that can help model online safety for your kids. Keep these scenarios casual rather than presenting them as instructions.
- Choose to search for an interesting video on YouTube. Discuss the ads as they pop up (“Why am I seeing this ad? What happens if I click on it?”) and decide together how to choose your next video. Explain why you don’t like some of the suggested videos and how you’ll block those channels.
- Play an online game together and model proper game etiquette. If there’s a chat feature, talk about why you don’t want to interact with strangers online and how you’ll block the conversations. Model that it’s okay to exit the game early if other players are bothering you.
- Casually mention why you will or won’t post the latest family photos on social media. Start a dialogue about your digital presence and how you feel about things existing online forever.
- Browse sites like Common Sense Media to determine if family movie night suggestions are a good fit. Normalize questioning your online choices instead of going with the crowd.
Letting your kids spend time online can be scary, but if you make online safety an intentional part of your parenting plan from the start, you can support healthy and secure digital behavior.
