A Guide on Internet Safety for Kids

June is National Safety Month, a month-long observance that aims to raise awareness and decrease unintentional deaths and injuries. In honor of this observance, we would like to make a comprehensive guide on internet safety for kids. We’ll discuss how to keep children and teenagers safe, what the current internet safety laws are, and how you can use them to your advantage. Furthermore, we’ll talk about protection tools and try to find the balance between privacy and supervision. All you have to do is keep reading! 

Internet Safety for Kids: How to Keep Children Safe?

Let’s start this article by saying the internet is not good nor bad! It’s just a tool – an awesome tool that kids can use to do research, gain knowledge, explore new ideas, acquire skills, and connect with peers on a level that was impossible before the internet. However, just like any other tool, it can be used by bad people for very bad things, too.

Therefore, the goal is not to protect children from the internet, but to teach them how to be safe while on the internet. This is a very important distinction because, as we’ll see later, kids tend to rebel against overprotective care, isolating them from the rest of their peers, which can actually have the opposite effect and put them in more danger. 

To avoid this, it’s important to remember that internet safety doesn’t mean restriction, but rather knowledge, especially with teenagers. To keep children safe means to educate them from a very early age about cyberbullying, inappropriate content, and online predators in an age-appropriate manner. This way, they’ll be prepared to recognize dangerous situations and ask for help. 

To clarify, if you explain to a child why they should never give sensitive personal information online, even when they want to register for an online game or a competition, tell them about the consequences, and show them examples of scams, chances are they’ll be more careful. On the other hand, if you just forbid them from giving out personal information without explanation, they’ll fail to see the harm in leaving their personal address when someone in a forum asks them in return for free points in a game. 

However, we understand that we can’t always predict what the danger can be, which is why it’s best to learn as much as we can about internet laws, current online trends, and protection tools. Then, we’ll see how we can use that knowledge to build an impenetrable safety wall together with our children and students.

Learning Internet Safety Laws

Knowing the federal laws regarding children on the internet is a good start in your quest to protect your child or students online. They’ll help you understand what’s normal, what’s not, and how you are protected if you want to report something to the police. 

Along with that, you can go over the laws together with the kids and discuss why they exist.

In America, there are two federal laws, the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA).

In both cases, they protect children who are younger than 13 by prohibiting websites to collect personal information from children without parental consent. They’re also not allowed to use information about children for marketing or other purposes. 

For these reasons, many social media platforms don’t allow children younger than 13 to use their services. 

In addition to this, the Cyberbullying website provides useful information about federal laws on various bullying behaviors, including bullying in electronic form. Depending on the state, you can check to see which laws and measures apply in different situations. 

Learning Kids’ Online Trends

Another useful resource when it comes to internet safety for kids is understanding the children’s online behavior. Clearly, it won’t be effective to use fancy monitoring or restricting software on the children’s laptops, if they’re on their smartphone most of the time. Similarly, most protection tools (which we’ll discuss below) work only if you give them the right input. 

What are the current online trends among children and teenagers? 

The Center for Cyber Safety and Education published a children’s usage internet study in 2016 in which they revealed some worrisome findings. Most notably, they discovered that although all children were aware that schools and parents were teaching about internet safety, they weren’t vigilant in their follow-through. For instance, most parents weren’t aware of how late their children were using the internet. Also, a lot of parents and teachers weren’t aware of the ways in which they can monitor or control their children’s online behavior. 

Another worrisome fact was the amount of time spent online. It was found that children (even younger than 5th grade) were online every day for more than 2 hours (4 on the weekends) beyond homework duties. It was found that this affected the kids’ academic performance, as many had arrived late to school or were feeling tired because of staying late online. On top of that, frequent and uncontrolled use of the internet increases the chances of inappropriate or dangerous use. 

Other fast facts:

• All children in the study use the internet without their parents watching.
• Four out of ten children say they have contacted strangers online (mostly through social media accounts which their parents set for them). 
• Frequent inappropriate activities: lying about age to get into adult websites, downloading and listening to music with adult content, watching movies for adults, browsing on topics for adults, and using the webcam or chat (Facetime) to connect with strangers.  
• A small percentage of them say they’ve given their name, phone, and address to strangers online.
• Type of websites most frequently visited: gaming websites, fantasy websites, chat rooms, pornography websites, dating sites, and other how-to websites for cheating in school, making weapons, or buying alcohol. 
• Most popular media sites among children: Instagram, Snapchat, Tiktok, Vine, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Ask.fm

Internet Safety for Kids: Protection Tools

With the findings described above, we can better appreciate the need of parents and teachers to be more involved in students’ online activities. When we say involvement, we mean being proactive in many different ways. While learning about protection tools is one way, don’t forget that setting rules together, and providing education in a more informal way are equally effective methods. A systematic approach is always the best solution.

Now, let’s start with the protection tools available for parents and teachers. 

Protection tools for parents, also known as parental controls, are available for most internet-able devices, such as PCs, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and even gaming systems. Most of these software tools or apps have a myriad of settings that give parents control to filter, monitor, or block a specific type of content or website. 

What can these apps do? 

• Filter and block – This will limit the access to specific websites, words, or images, meaning the child won’t be able to see them. 
• Blocking outgoing content – Some advanced tools have the ability to prevent your child from sharing personal information. For instance, an email or a message won’t be sent if it contains personal information. 
• Monitoring tools – These tools give parents warnings when their children access certain sites, they can record children’s activity online, or send a report to parents afterward. Some of the tools can even detect sexting, suicidal thoughts, contacts with predators, etc. Monitoring can be done with or without the children’s knowledge (we advise full disclosure). 
• Time limits – Some tools limit the time during which children are allowed to access the internet. This can be a time limit and/or a specific time in the day. For example, no internet after 11 pm. 

Popular Parental Control Tools:

• KasperskySafe Kids – best on budget
• Bark – most advanced, best overall, expensive
• Qustodio – great for older children
• NetNanny – great for younger children
• OurPact: Parental Control and Kid Tracker
• Norton Family

Teaching Kids About Internet Safety

Now that you feel like a weight has been lifted knowing there are tons of advanced tools to help you control every moment that your child spends online, let’s talk about education for internet safety. 

It doesn’t really matter how strong the walls we build around our children are if we don’t teach them how to make smart decisions. Because, at the end of the day, as they grow up, they’ll find a way around those walls and make their own way into the world. After all, we can’t expect them to be dependent on us all the time. So, how do we teach internet safety to kids?

First, teach kids how to use the internet, starting from what the internet is, to who can abuse it, how frequently, and for what reasons.

Second, after kids understand the concept of the internet better and they’re aware of the dangers, sit down together with the kids and agree on rules that are acceptable for both sides. This way, parents will feel confident, while kids will feel respected and unrestricted.

Teaching Kids How to Use the Internet

Usually, the recommended age for kids to begin using the internet is 8 or 9 years old. There are many reasons for this age restriction, which we won’t go into here. Our topic focuses on children learning about internet usage, which would ideally start one year (or at least a couple of months) before they go online. 

Here are a few steps how to teach kids about internet usage:

1. Start with the basics. Teach kids what the internet is, how it’s used, why it’s used, who uses it, what are the advantages and disadvantages. I’m sure not a lot of kids know why the internet was invented in the first place and how it became so popular, which is a shame.
2. Demonstrate to kids how to use the internet. This can be done by showing and discussing the different apps, how they operate, why would someone want to use them, what are the dangers, how to browse the internet, etc.
3. Show your child how to look for information online. This is very much related to digital literacy, which is another important topic. Kids need to know how to look for the things they need, what to avoid, what are viruses, advertisements, scams, how to spot a suspicious website, how to check the links to see if they were accidentally redirected, how to recognize false information, etc. 
4. Show them how to safely download, stream, or use content (especially music, movies, and games). Go to untrusted websites and show your child what it looks like to be “attacked” or scammed.

Online Dangers to Discuss With Children

The second aspect when teaching internet safety to kids is openly discussing the dangers and consequences of some online behaviors. We understand that parents want to protect their children by not exposing them to such dark topics, but not knowing leaves the child vulnerable. Plus, it should always be done in an age-appropriate language and as the child grows, you can expand or add to what was previously learned. 

So, what are the biggest dangers kids online face that you should address? 

• Cyberbullying;
• Internet predators (FBI has a learning program on internet safety for kids);
• Sharing private Information (full name, address, phone number, social security number, bank account details, card numbers, etc);
• Phishing;
• Scam sites;
• Downloading malware;

Books and Movies on Internet Safety

When you struggle to find the right words to express the severity of the situation, you can always turn to Hollywood. There are some mind-blowingly touching documentaries and movies concerning the dangers on the internet and the importance of internet safety. The following suggestions are our favorites!

Books on Internet Safety for Kids:

• The Technology Tail by Julia Cook
• Good Pictures Bad Pictures (and Good Pictures Bad Pictures Jr.) by Kristen A. Jenson
• #Goldilocks: A Hashtag Cautionary Tale  by Jeanne Willis & Tony Ross
• The Smart Kid’s Guide to Using the Internet by M. J. Cosson
• How to Handle Cyberbullies by Ann Truesdell
• Smart Internet Surfing: Evaluating Websites and Advertising by Mary Lindeen
• Smart Online Communication: Protecting Your Digital Footprint by Mary Lindeen

Movies on Internet Saferty for Kids:

• Men, Women and Children (2014)
• Catfish (2010)
• The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (2014)
• Disconnect (2012)
• The Social Dilemma (2020)
• Childhood 2.0 (2020)

Setting Safety Rules 

The last aspect in this systematic approach (parental control tools and education) to internet safety for kids is setting rules. In addition, we’ll share a couple rules that we believe are valuable, however, the first thing you want to do is personalize the rules together with your child. 

After educating your child on how to use the internet and the dangers online, together you can come up with rules that would feel comfortable for both sides. The main reason why we’re suggesting this is because when children feel involved by making them part of the decision, there’s a higher chance they’ll respect the rules. But, you should always have boundaries, and at least a few rules which are non negotiable. 

Basic Rules or Safety Guidelines for Online Behavior: 

• Never post, share, or give anyone personal information, including your full name, address, phone number, social security number, bank account details, card numbers, or passwords.
• Never post, share, or reveal your location to anyone – current location, school location, gym location, etc.
• Never post personal pictures, especially if they show your school, home, or anything personal. 
• Always use a screen name instead of your full name.
• All passwords must be shared with the close family and updated regularly (example: once a month).
• Never contact strangers online. 
• Never share personal information or agree to meet offline with strangers online (even if they send photos, videos, and sound convincing).
• Never respond to threatening messages. Immediately call an adult!
• Always share with the family if something or someone on the internet makes you uncomfortable.  

Warning Signs That Something Might Be Wrong

Prevention is our goal, but throughout the years, you need to be prepared to recognize if something is happening early on, so you can take action!

These are some of the warning signs that something might be wrong:

• Closing the laptop or turning off the screen when you pass by. 
• Suddenly spending too much time online. 
• Feels nervous when they’re on their phone or laptop. 
• Suddenly withdrawing and not wanting to talk about their friends or online activities. 
• Changing the way they use the internet.
• Receiving phone calls from people they don’t know. 
• Receiving unsolicited gifts in the mail.

Respecting Kids’ Privacy vs. Supervising Their Online Activities

Finding a balance between being a total control freak and giving total freedom is one of the greatest challenges parents are faced with nowadays. It’s tempting to use the parental control software tools without the child’s knowledge and totally breach their privacy (all in the name of safety), but this can ruin your relationship and trust. 

If you don’t trust your child to make the right decisions, they’ll respond back by not trusting you when they’re really in danger.

On the other hand, wanting to be their friend and letting them do whatever they want hoping they’ll come to you if there’s something wrong, is equally destructive. This can result in children not seeing you as a responsible and capable authority figure. 

For these reasons, we believe that the balance is being firm but respecting – setting strict rules and following them constantly, but setting them together with your child and considering their needs and feelings. Telling them up front what’s being monitored and why. Always be honest and trust them. 

Before You Go

This was quite a lengthy guide, but hopefully we’ve covered everything that parents need to know about internet safety for kids. It’s a very big topic, which is understandable considering how big a part of our life the internet has become. 

If you need more help, don’t hesitate to visit our website and browse through our worksheet library. We have a lot of teaching resources on related topics that might be of help!

Also, a couple of days ago, we shared another article on safety in honor of National Safety Month titled “Celebrate National Safety Month by Teaching Kids About Safety.” In this article, we’ve expanded beyond internet safety which is a great read! And, there’s more to come, so subscribe to our newsletter and follow our blog regularly.