Keeping Kids Safe In The Summer

Kids have way too much free time over the summer. Of course we all want our children to be outdoors and active, but when they’re not in school all day they’re going to need some down time inside, and during this time they are likely to be on an electronic device, whether it be a laptop, phone, or iPad.

Here are some tips for keeping children of all ages safe when using technology over the summer:

1) Know Their Passwords

If your child has their own devices make sure you know their passwords into said device, and know their password for every single social media account they have. If they don’t like it, they don’t need to have social media accounts or their own devices. You don’t need to go through their accounts every single day, but it’s good to have in case you do get suspicious or something does happen to your child.  Plus your child knowing that you have the power to get into their accounts and see what they are up to should help prevent them from doing anything they shouldn’t.

2) Teach Your Child To Never Share Personal Information

This may seem obvious, but to children it isn’t. Make sure your child knows never to post their phone number, address, location, etc. through social media and not to share personal information with any strangers they may encounter online, and preferably doesn’t interact with strangers online at all. Make sure your child’s social media accounts are all set to private and that their “friends” are actually friends.

3) Make Sure You View Before They Post

Have a rule that your child must show you any picture that they plan to post on social media before they post. This way you know that the content they are sharing with their community is safe and appropriate.

4) Use Family Protector from Intego

Family Protector from Intego is a free, easy to use app that allows you to control your child’s activity on the different devices you know they’ll be frequenting this summer. This app allows your to set age-appropriate limits on your child’s devices, stop in-app purchases, and monitor your child’s online usage. You can schedule time for your child’s devices to stop so they aren’t on them past bedtime, turn off internet browsing during mealtime, and even alert your children to give you a call. Best of all you’ll know where your children are going online, and be able to manage all your children’s devices from your own phone.

What tips have you found for keeping your children safe while using technology?