Learn the Importance of Monitoring Your Child’s Internet and Social Media Activities
If you children are using the Internet it is important as a parent to keep them as safe as possible. There are many dangers on the Internet that most kids don’t understand or care to understand because they are naive. They think that everyone on the Internet is who they say that they are and don’t feel as if anyone can really harm them, when in reality this is far from the truth. There are predators searching online for tweens and teens looking to mislead them down the wrong path. Also, many parents and older children don’t realize that everything that you do on the Internet is traceable and can be tracked down by your Internet Protocol Address, often referred to as an IP address.
What is an IP address?
An IP address is a special numerical number that is assigned to a device when the device is connected to the Internet. This numerical address serves two purposes. The first purpose of the numerical address identifies your host or network interface identification. Without an IP address, you device would be unable to connect the Internet or other networks. The second purpose of an IP address is to provide location information. Each area is assigned a certain range of IP addresses so that someone can easily identify where the connection is located at.
What is a Digital Footprint?
Many people who use the Internet don’t fully grasp this concept or even realize that everything that they do online can be traced or tracked. Digital tracking is often used for marketing purposes so that companies can target their marketing campaigns to their targeted audience. Your digital foot print can also give other people an indication of your online digital reputation. Online reputations are important and is often used for social media interactions such as Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms. If you or your children participate in social media activities, your digital footprint is often measured by the number of people that you interact with or who are friends with you on any given social media platform. Your children can potentially get your IP address blacklisted or banned from sites if they are doing unethical things on the computer.
What Devices and Access to the Internet Does Your Child Have?
Many children are gaining access to the Internet at an early age and many parents have no clue about the dangers that your child can potentially discover on the Internet. I recently became alarmed when I saw a post about a child in Kindergarten already carrying a cell phone at a young age. My jaw dropped because I don’t feel as if a child should have expensive items such as a cell phone at an early age nor do they need one. Does your child have any devices that connect to the Internet? Some examples of devices that children often have access that are currently connected or can be connected to the Internet via WiFi:
- Televisions
- Tablets
- Wii
- X-box
- DSI
- Playstation
- Computer
- Cell Phones
- Ipod Touch with Wifi
- And Possible Other Electronics that I Missed
Some of the devices are connected to the Internet and most parents don’t think twice about it. Does your child use any of these devices with or without close supervision? If you allow your child to use devices unsupervised, they could be accessing websites or content that is disturbing, inappropriate, opening themselves up to cyber attacks such as cyberbullying or cyberstalking, downloading potentially harmful programs to your personal computer or devices, obtaining illegal copies of music, movies, or other media, or accessing pornography.
What Can You Do to Protect Your Child?
Many parents give their child access to the devices above without realizing that their child could be exposed to harmful situations or content on the Internet. These devices probably were not around when you were growing up and kids today feel as if they have a sense of entitlement. If allow your child to have or use these devices, it is very important that you monitor their activity or supervise them. If possible, lock the device down with a special code or application that allows them to access only the content or programs that you approve of. If you plan on allowing them to use the computer, install parental control software so that you can lock down their computer activity and have a way to monitor your child even when you aren’t home. Also, before giving your child access to something, do your own research and find out what they want access to so that you can determine if it is appropriate for your child.
Why is it Important to Monitor Your Child’s Media Activities?
If your child has their own cell phone, uses the computer, or has access to social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, ect, it is important for you to monitor what they are doing on these sites. Read their conversations, check up on them, listen to their phone conversations, and learn what they are up to. Monitoring your child’s conversations allows you to quickly step in when there is a problem or issue. According to Boston Children’s Hospital over 90% of children in grades 4th through 8th grade have been bullied and over 70% of high school students have been bullied at school. (See Reference) These statistics are alarming and this is why it is important for parents to monitor their child’s activities. Most children will not disclose to their parents that they are being bullied at school. Cyberbullying and cyberstalking is also popular among tweens and teens, which makes monitoring your child’s social media usage very important. Many kids participate in this negative activity to make themselves look better, feel better, or more importantly they feel like they can get away with it. In fact, most kids are more likely to participate in cyberbullying or cyberstalking because they think that it is difficult to track and that the chances of the getting caught are pretty slim. However, all activity on the Internet can be tracked and traced. It would take some time to trace the person who is guilty these activities and it would likely involve a court order to track down the IP address of the person who is bullying or stalking your child online.
Teach Your Child to Never Give Out Their Information Online
Teach your child that they should never give anyone online personal information unless they actually know the person. Personal information includes: your address, phone number, social security number, bank account information (older teens may have their own account), and anything that could put them in immediate danger. Also, never post your address or phone number in online profiles where predators could gain potential access to this information without your child’s knowledge. There are online predators that look for naive tweens and teens that are willing to give up their personal information. This could leave your child vulnerable to kidnapping, rape, drugs, and other dangerous behavior or activities; including, possible death.
Click on the link below to read more articles that I wrote about protecting your child from online dangers. I am a tech savvy mom and I want to share my knowledge with other parents. I feel that #Cybersecurity is important and that parents need to be aware of the real dangers that comes along with the Internet and social media. More and more teens and young children are being exposed to the Internet at a very young age and it is important to protect their innocence while allowing them to use these devices with parental supervision and parental controls.
Learn More About the Dangers that Lurk Online
Why Internet Monitoring Is Important
Dangers that Tweens and Teens Face When Using the Internet
Reference:
Boston Children’s Hospital: Bullying. http://childrenshospital.org/az/Site2912/mainpageS2912P1.html
20 Responses to “Learn the Importance of Monitoring Your Child’s Internet and Social Media Activities”
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Christy, as always your dedication to helping others paired with your dedication to investing key time to provide accurate informative information with key resources shines through in this article. I especially appreciate you defining/explaining in detail the definition of: “digital footprint.” It is so disturbing how many adult AND child bullies are on-line trolling for people to hurt, including not only physical harm although also to digitally rape people by harming people’s earned credibilities as we have sadly witnessed first hand. This article is an excellent resource small grouo workshops. Greatest of gratitude for all you invest in yourcwork
Christy, of course tech headaches as I was finishing my comments. Continued here: Greatest of gratitude to you for all you invest in your work and blog. I am so thankful for all you help me/others learn.
With gratitude and friendship, Steph~
Great post, I suggest breaking down into a series, a possible eBook in the making. I really enjoyed the quality of the information, the tips and the statistics that you offer in this piece.
Hi Christy,
You have share such vital information here. Although I am not a parent I’m VERY aware of the dangers and have previously been concerned by the information my younger sisters were sharing. With constant changes and the introduction of function like Facebook Graph EVERYONE needs to be conscious and thoughtful before and while they are sharing on the web.
Cheers,
Caylie
What a great post Christy…such valuable information! I have four daughters and it is scary, like you said, as we didn’t grow up with the world at our fingertips.
I think young kids having cell phones, especially iPhones, is overkill. We give phones to our daughters when they are older and in activities that will give US the comfort of being able to reach THEM.
In our home, cell phones and computers are not in their bedrooms…they are in the common area where we can see what is being digested. We also have taught the girls to NEVER give out personal information online.
Thank you for all the reminders!
Thank you for reading this article. My daughter has a basic cell phone, I agree kids shouldn’t have access to high end smartphones. These kids don’t need to spend hours upon hours on the Internet without supervision, unless they are old enough to pay for their own service.
Excellent article! This is a very important subject and some parents don’t take it seriously enough. I see a lot of young kids with Facebook accounts (there are several I know and am FB friends with). I believe Facebook terms say that they have to be at least 13 years old, but some of them are not. They put an extra 10 years on their age so that they can sign up, and then they friend as many people as they can find (hundreds) because they are ‘friends of friends’. I do sometimes see information or conversations that should not be taking place, just because it could put them at risk if they are ‘friends’ with someone who is not trustworthy. In addition, the security settings for the profiles are not always set for optimal protection for public viewing (as in anyone who is not a FB friend may be able to access the profile information and see the status updates). Parents need to stay on top of this. If they choose to allow their kids to have social media accounts at a young age, they need to educate themselves, the child, have full access to the account, set restrictions and monitor the activity regularly.
I agree, it is crazy that kids are allowed to sign up for facebook even if they aren’t 13 yet. Most kids are so naive and don’t realize that they could be harmed or taken advantage of. Parents should take responsibility or at least explain to their children that there are dangers in the cyber world. I couldn’t believe the stats on bullying when I was conducting research for this article. It is sad that most kids are bullied at some point during their school career.
This is a great article. I agree with everyone here that you are really sharing some valuable information. All too often parents think they know what their kids are up to, only to be surprised later. You have to stay on top of them with this the same way you do about drugs and alcohol – be vigilant!
This is an important and informative article that parents, educators and caregivers should read. I liked how you thoroughly explained IP addresses, digital tracking, etc. I think as parents we sometimes aren’t knowledgable about the in’s and out of technology and what effect this can have on our children. This was a great post.
My son learned how to use an iPhone at the age of 2. He is now 4, and he already knows what the words ‘download’, ‘App Store’, and ‘credit card’ mean. And although letting him play games and tinker with my phone keeps him quiet and lets me get my work done, I’m still wary of the things that he could possibly do with that gadget in hand.
We always monitor the kids whenever they are on the PC or IPAD. They are also taught about cyberbullying and being responsible online in school which we do follow up at home. The kids are not allowed any Facebook accounts till they are of legal age and do know all the implications of owning one.
excellent post with MANY great tips on how to monitor.
This is an excellent post! I wrote about this very issue a few months ago. I got some very supportive comments…and some comments blasting me for being too over-protective and judgmental. When it comes to protecting my children from online predators…I’m happy to be over-protective. I do not allow my kids a smart phone or any other device that connects to the internet. We do have a PS3, but it’s closely monitored in the living room, along with the family computer (my kids are not allowed to have a computer or other device in their rooms), etc. I monitor everything…
This is when I’m so glad I raised mine already, before the big tech-online culture. They had cell phones, and myspace started as late teenagers for them, but nothing like what parents have to deal with today. The cost is outrageous too. Thanks for such an informative post. It’s going to take new habits of parenting skills to handle our new era.
I firmly believe I have access to anything my kids do. My teens must always allow me access to their phones and computer, and I must have ALL their passwords to facebook, twitter, email, etc. If they ever shut the page, delete history or change a password, they lose access to all electronics for a month. They’ve each tested me once, but that was it. GREAT POST!
At what age do you suggest that parents leave their children alone on social media sites? I have a 13 year old daughter who is somewhat active on Facebook and Twitter. I do monitor those sites. However, she also is very active on Tumblr. She has asked me not to monitor Tumblr because she wants to keep it private. However, I felt it was my responsibility to monitor it as I do the other sites, and have been doing so. My daughter found out today that I’ve been monitoring her Tumblr page and is more than extremely upset with me. She says that she’s 13 and responsible, and angry that I don’t trust her. I’m beside myself right now for losing my daughter’s trust and perhaps doing something terrible by invading her privacy. I know that she’s going to set up a new Tumblr site that I can’t access. Are there some sites like Tumblr where a parent doesn’t have to worry? I’d appreciate any thoughts that you may have. Thank you.
My daughter is 16 and I still actively monitor her computer activity. I do allow her to use the computer unsupervised for the most part but I do check on her randomly. I agree that it is important that you monitor her Tumblr account in case you see activity such as bullying. I would explain to her that you are monitoring her for her safety and it isn’t an invasion of her privacy. Explain to her that sometimes bad things happen to children ie meeting people online without your knowledge, cyber bullying, cyber stalking, drug use, and so much more. I wouldn’t feel too bad for monitoring her usage on the computer, that is why you are the parent and she isn’t. I hope this helps Gerri and I am glad that you found this article helpful.
Kudos for caring about your daughter’s safety.
Thanks for your reply Christy. Your feedback is very helpful.
Your welcome. Let me know if there is anything else that I can do to help/support you Gerri.