Keeping kids safe online
How do you keep your kids safe online? It’s a question that most parents ask themselves at some point. With four kiddos, ranging from 14 down to 3, the internet is a big part of our life. My bigger two kids especially use their phones and laptops a lot, to research work and chat with friends. My job as a parent is to protect them – but also to teach them to keep themselves safe online and to help them make good choices.
The most important thing I can do is to create a mental framework that helps keep my kids safe—and teaches them to protect themselves. I make sure that I talk to them about the importance of internet safety. We talk about why we have to be cautious about who we are talking to, and about giving out personal information. We talk about what is ok and what isn’t – not just internet content, but messages from other people. My eldest has had experience of bullies using social media to continue to harass her, so we’ve talked about how that isn’t acceptable – that if something is wrong offline, it’s wrong online too.
With four kids, it can be hard to monitor what they are all doing at any one time. That’s where the WebSafety app comes into action. It is designed to help parents protect children and help them use their mobile devices safely. It monitors where your kids are going, who they contact and who is contacting them on their phone.
It is an app that gives parents real-time alerts from kids and teen’s cell phones and tablets to help protect them from online dangers such as cyber bullies, sexting, and Internet predators. WebSafety is available on Android and Apple devices.
You can download the app onto the devices your kiddos use, and monitors them from a dashboard on your device. It lets you track the location of your child, gives you the ability to see text messages they receive {or set up alerts based on certain words}, see apps downloaded and websites visited. It lets you see any photos uploaded to social media sites and set curfew limits. Basically, it gives you the reassurance that you know what is going on in your children’s lives.
If you are at all concerned about your child’s online life, or you just want to install a monitor for your peace of mind, then why not give WebSaftey a go? You get a 30-day free trial, and after that it is $5.99/month or $59.99/year. You can download on Android here and IOS here.
This post is in association with WebSafety. All thoughts and opinions are my own.