*I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for Boys & Girls Clubs of America. I received a promotional item to thank me for my participation*
Teaching our kids to be cyber safe is one of my top priorities. Like many families in America, our home is filled with technology. Not always the latest and greatest, but nonetheless, we have at least 10 or 12 (or even more) devices that connect to the internet. With June being Internet Safety Awareness month, I thought I’d share a few tips on how we help our children learn how to be safe on the internet, along with a few tips courtesy of the Boys & Girls Club of America (BGCA) cyber safe site.
The biggest thing I want my kids to know is that what you put out there on the internet is there F-O-R-E-V-E-R. With all the different social media apps out there like Instagram, Snap Chat, etc our kids don’t realize that they are no longer able to make a mistake without that mistake potentially following them for the rest of their lives on the internet. So my first tip…
Talk to your kids. Explain to them how one little picture or a comment posted online could potentially prevent them from being able to do a lot of things down the road.
Social media…the bane of my existence when it comes to my son. His friends all have Facebook, Instagram and who knows what other social media sites. Being that I work with a lot of social media, I feel that he is too young for Facebook. I did, however make him an Instagram account…with a few rules.
- Account must stay private.
- He cannot add people that he does not know.
- He must be friends with me.
- I hold the password.
Those rules are non-negotiable. Break them, then you lose your account. Plain and simple. So that brings me to my second tip…
Know the social media account(s) your child has. Make your own profile and friend them. You can’t be proactive if you don’t know what may be going on. And for Pete’s sake…make it PRIVATE!
The BGCA Cyber Safe page has a lot of information and tips for parents when it comes to keeping their kids Cyber Safe. Some of their great tips are:
- Have a “Think Before You Send” policy. This will help kids really think about the potential long term affect of whatever it is they choose to put online.
- Google your child’s name.
- Check their cell phone regularly.
- Talk to your kids about cyber bullying, sexual predators, etc.
You can see these tips and many more at the BGCA Cyber Safe website. Let’s learn how to keep our kids #CyberSafe online!
With June being Internet Safety Awareness month, BGCA and Sprint are teaming up and asking parents to visit the BGCA Cyber Safe website and submit their top questions pertaining to cyber safety. A team of BGCA Cyber Safety Ambassadors made up of teens from around the world will answer the questions from a teens perspective! The BGCA is committed to keeping kids safe and in this day and age, that means keeping them safe online!
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