The
internet is not called the World Wide Web for nothing. It allows us to
gain access to a vast amount of information with the simple click of a
mouse button. With social media taking the world by storm and making
connections online all part of today’s generation, it has also made the
internet an incredibly scary place, what with the amount of real life
information we now store online, including credit card information as
well as our addresses.
This has opened children up to a new
kind of threat in many regards, and without supervision, children can
uncover some ghastly things as well as leave themselves open to threats.
Below are 5 Dangers of Letting Kids Go Online Unsupervised
1. Bullying
Facebook, Twitter, text message and
email are the standard ways of communication for children nowadays. With
this comes instantaneous gratification regarding being able to be in
touch with someone.
Sadly it also allows for instant virtual bullying,
as culprits of online bullying can be just one friend request or follow
away from virtually abusing your child. It has made it a lot easier now
for this to be done, so the best bet is to ensure your child doesn’t
spend too much time on social networks, and only find and add their real
friends; certainly not little Johnnie, who they don’t really like for
the promise of a free chocolate, cause that is probably going to end in
little Johnnie making that offer for the wrong reasons – and could end
up with a tirade of unnecessary and unwarranted bullying.
2. Stalking
Sadly the internet has also become a
stomping ground for predators, so ensuring your child isn’t surfing the
internet and engaging with complete strangers will allow for them to be
safe.
As mentioned it is very easy for people
to find your information online depending on your privacy settings, so
make sure you and your family are protected and privacy settings are on
as high a possible level when your child is surfing. It is not a sure
fire way of stopping these kind of people, but it should offer you some
breather from worry about your child’s every click.
Accessing the deepest and darkest
corners of the internet may also bring on the threat of viruses and
Trojans on your computer, which you should take steps to guard against.
We as adults know clicking on the very dubious ad that says “You have a
friend request on Facebook” is a bad idea, however your child may not
feel the same way. So ensure you are protected to the hilt, as getting
Trojans which may track your every keystroke and mouse click would not
be ideal.
At the end of the day, spending time
with your child whilst they use the internet can be a good bonding
experience, as you can learn common interests and help educate them on
the ways of the WWW. But should you wish to offer them some
independence, and ensuring your computer has fail safes to ensure they
don’t come across unwanted content is certainly the way to go.
You will never be able to protect your
child from seeing or doing things online that they shouldn’t, but
teaching them from an early age what they should and shouldn’t be doing
will definitely help with their usage, and also help to keep them that
little bit safer.
4. Mature content
The world wide web is full of content
meant for a mature audience, from movie trailers which are banned in
cinemas for their adult nature (being violent, strong language and
nudity) to music, which has crude and non-PC lyrics, to pornography.
With highly graphic content only being a
Google search away, it is incredibly easy for your child to stumble
onto content of an adult nature. Helping your child with their homework
or surfing is a good way to help monitor what they are looking for, and safety tools should be implemented
on your computer, just to ensure that there aren’t any unwanted
surprises awaiting your child when they do search for something online.
5. Crime
As most adults now shop online and
mostly store their credit card details with their favourite suppliers,
this leaves your money in the hands of your child. Should they log in to
a site you frequent which has your details stored, don’t be surprised
when a new 50 inch plasma TV rocks up on your doorstep. This also could
open the door for scammers who send mail requests for personal
information to get to your child as they spam just about everyone.
Sadly applications like Twitter as well
as Foursquare could leave your house under threat, what with children
feeling the urge to write things such as “Home alone for the next few
hours as the parents are watching a movie”, and then checking in to “My
House” on Foursquare could leave anyone interested online from finding
your home and possibly invading it.
Highly improbable, maybe, but stranger
things have happened especially if your child has been approached on
Foursquare by someone they don’t know (or someone they think they may
know).
Disclosure: This post was brought to you by AVG and I hope that being aware of these 5 Dangers of Letting
Kids Go Online Unsupervised will help you keep your kids safe.