How to Use Social Media Safely? A Guide that Helps Protect Your Children

Using social media safely – A guide for parents

If you are a parent, you want to protect your children. You also want them to be active and engaged in the world, not just stay at home playing video games all day.

As they become more independent and engaged on social media, this new environment exposes them to various dangers. I’ve put together a brief guide that will help guide you through steps to use social media safely and securely with your children.

What is social media?

Social media is a web application that uses a lot of mobile features. It is the internet that we use daily. Social media has many benefits like staying in touch with relatives, communicating with friends, and gaining knowledge and information quickly through video clips, blogs, pictures, and more. But it also comes with risks, including cyberbullying, stalkers, or even child predators.

How do we use social media safely?

The MOST IMPORTANT step you must take is to be aware of what your children are doing online. Monitor their activities and logs, make sure they are not sending private information or setting up any accounts that can hide or hide the content of the message.

If you have children with smartphones, this can be a struggle for you as most parents do not want their kids to have access to the internet, but if you use internet filters on your phone like Opera Mini, S Max, and others, it will block most websites.

Develop a schedule that allows your children to engage online. On average, children spend 3 hours online alone on computers and playing video games. It takes two months of a continued effort to develop the best online habits.

Set up rules and boundaries for how your children should use social media:

1.  Have a conversation with your children to make them aware of what they can post and what they cannot on social media sites.
2. Ask them questions like where they are going, who they are meeting, and post something privately?
3. Explain why it is essential to use social media safely. For example, children were posted about many things that are not suitable for younger children to see even though most parents do not mind those posts. You could also use the following example: Let’s say I have a friend in your age group, and we want to dress up like a princess for Halloween. Then we will look at your Facebook and Instagram to get ideas of what to dress up like. What do you think if we see pictures of you dressed up as a princess?
4. Say something like: “You should not post pictures that clearly show your face or your friend’s faces on Facebook and Instagram unless you want people you know to see them.”
5. If children understand why they need to comply with the rules, even if it refers to safer WiFi usage, they are more likely to follow them.
6. Put in place an incentive that encourages children to follow the rules, including extra screen time or computer games, or even the chance for an outing such as a trip to the movies for their excellent behavior.
7. Use the tools available to help you track your child’s activity on the internet. Protect your data with an antivirus from this list that you may find below:

• Bitdefender antivirus
• Norton Antivirus
• Kaspersky Antivirus
• Avast Antivirus

Any of this antivirus can help you keep your computer and smartphone safe.

1. Most importantly, be consistent and don’t give in to their requests to do things that they know are wrong.
2. Make sure your children understand the privacy settings on social media sites. They can either choose who can see their posts or only make those posts public which will prevent strangers from seeing them, but posts made to close friends will be seen by everyone on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
3. Make sure they follow the rules you set up for them online and do not use social media when they aren’t supposed to.

Over time, you can help your children become more aware of the various safety features available on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Tips for using social media safely:

1. Do not use your child’s birthday as a reason to cyberbully or stalk them as it is against Facebook’s terms and conditions and will be reported but also, do not give out personal information that shows your relationship with your child.
2. Do not cyberbully other children or families on Facebook so they can’t access the dangerous content you post, which can trigger them to cyberbully others.
3. If you present yourself with a fake identity, don’t post about it and if you do, make sure it is not an accurate reflection of who you are in real life.
4. Never meet someone in person who you have been talking to online unless you are a parent or an adult and approved by the parents.
5. If somebody asks you to take a picture with them and offer you money, it is probably a scam, so do not do it. Likewise, do not be too quick to reply to these kinds of requests as they could be scams.
6. Never send any personal information like your telephone number, your address, and especially not your full name or address in any posts on social media sites.
7. Do not share your passwords with anyone and never post passwords on social media sites.
8. Hiding your posts from strangers online is an integral part of online safety.

If you are a parent, even though you don’t have to monitor what your children do online, it can help prevent them from doing the wrong things online and encourage the good online habits that they should learn. So, be a responsible parent and make sure you monitor what your child does on social media sites. If, for example, their behavior is unusual for their age level, then there could be a reason behind it, and it might not be anything to worry about.

In conclusion

You need to be aware that the risks of cyberbullying, cyberstalking, and other forms of harassment are real and happen every day. You must be cautious and understand that not all children are alike, and some social media contacts your child makes may not be good influences. Be vigilant when keeping everything safe online, monitor your child’s online activities and set strict rules around how they can use social media safely.

Stay safe!

If you have any questions on cyberbullying or online safety, then please do not hesitate to leave your comments.