I was intrigued by a recent New York Times article by Anne Hull titled, “How to Raise Online Safety Apprehensions.” It detailed the progress and struggles that the internet has brought about for both parents and children, and how their interaction can have lasting impact.
After being involved in online safety for more than 20 years, the many facets of it amaze me. I love learning about this wonderful technology that helps our children explore the world in a way not possible in any other medium. I also don’t love being called “overprotective” for telling my kids how they can use the internet safely.
While there are a few things that children and parents can always do to help promote safe use of the internet, in the end, I do believe parents must make conscious choices about their own experiences and fears about the internet and the risks it can present for children and young adults.
We all face the same fears: predators, threats to privacy, and the possibility of cyberbullying, among others. So there are certain tools that parents can and should use to help counteract some of those concerns.
I always advise parents to lock their front doors and front windows. If we ever feel any hesitation to lock our doors, we should assess the risk and decide how serious our fear is. Children are probably more concerned about predators than threats, and they are probably more vulnerable. Parental involvement is essential to prevent the situation from escalating out of control and result in physical harm.
Moreover, we need to understand that children are taught as early as their childhood to act in peer circles and to keep their own safety as a priority, so we should do everything in our power to develop these norms. When a child has the opportunity to do something that is often more complex than just writing a check, learn how to solve problems, and have a positive way of communicating, we should be empathetic, and teach this skill to children so they are more productive and less prone to bad habits.
Parents also need to understand how important it is for them to model good online behavior. Any time we do something harmful or inappropriate online, we risk incurring bad (or potentially good) publicity and learning that it isn’t always acceptable. Additionally, we need to be vigilant in knowing what is OK for our children to do online and in avoiding situations where they are exposed to judgmental and judgmental comments that are negative to them or where their privacy has been invaded.
I would say the most important thing parents can do to promote good behavior online is to make the conversation about appropriate use of the internet a family affair. Of course, any conversation about this subject is hard, and we are trying to stick to it even when we don’t fully understand the internet and the online culture.