How to keep our Children Safe Online?

If you thought it was tough to keep kids off the internet before COVID-19, it’s almost impossible now.

Between mandated online school and video meetings, you and your kids are definitely spending a lot more time online than ever before. We know that for some of you, this kind of task may be the first time you’ve ever experienced it with your little one.

Unfortunately, it is widely known that the internet is extremely comprehensive, and as being such, terrible things lurk everywhere in it. The World Wide Web can be a very risky place, especially for your children.

Now you don’t have to go through this dangerous path alone- here come the CyberGhost Research Team to help us find out which are the potential online threats to kids in cyberspace, how to protect our kids from them, how to keep kids safe on social media, and to give parents some security tips and tricks of how to make the Internet one more safe place for their children.

There are a number of potential dangers in cyberspace, but here are the top online security risks that most kids face:

Cyberbullying is any aggressive, threatening, or mean-spirited activity conducted via electronic communication, such as email, social media posts, text messages. Girls are more likely to be the victims of cyberbullying whereas more boys admit to bullying others online.
Exposure to inappropriate content is one of the most common online threats that our children can encounter. Vulgar language, hate speech, graphically violent or sexual images- all these can cause a harmful effect on impressionable adolescents.
Online predators are all adults who use the World Wide Web to entice children for abusive exploitation. Victims’ ages can range from 1 y.o. – 17y.o. Statistics also say that when it comes to online enticement, girls make up the majority (78%) of child victims, while the majority (82%) of online predators are male. 98% of online predators have never met their targets.

*What is Online Grooming?*

According to the CyberGhost Research Team, “online grooming” is a term used to describe when predators befriend minors online in order to exploit them. Grooming can be used for sexual purposes or to radicalize young people.

Hence, the next question is “How to protect our loved ones from online threats?”

The Privacy Hub gave us some tips about this:

Teach Kids How to Navigate the Internet Safely
Inform Kids of What to Look For
Install Firewalls and Content Blockers

Here are several Online Security Tips for Parents:

Set Clear Rules and Boundaries
Set Up Parental Controls
Use a Suitable VPN
Keep Everything Updated
Teach Your Kids About Online Privacy
Warn About Phishing Emails

If you want to get more information on how to keep your kids safe while using the Internet, you can check the Internet Safety Guide for Kids made by the CyberGhost Research Team. Check out the gallery below for more thorough information.

Stay safe,

Stay informed,

And enjoy browsing.