The Internet is an incredibly useful tool and one that can enhance children’s learning, helping them to build on the information they are being taught at school and give them a chance to gain more knowledge. Recently, children have been using the Internet for a different reason; for remote learning. This has been a necessary change, and for the most part, it works well, but there are several safety tips that parents should be aware of to ensure that their children are learning their schoolwork and not falling into danger. Here are three safety tips for remote learning:
Sign Up To An Online Safety Session
Parents may be worried about online safety, cyberbullying, inappropriate contact and websites, and even scams. By signing up for one of the many online safety sessions that are run by IT experts, educational institutes, police units, and other helpful organizations, perhaps even including your own school, you can learn much more about the dangers and what to look out for.
These sessions will either be aimed at adults, children, or families, and it is important that your child and not just you learn about online safety. When the entire family is aware of what to watch out for and what is not acceptable, everyone will be safer.
Some of the things that will be mentioned in these sessions include how to recognize a scam website, how to use searches safely, what cyberbullying is and how to deal with it, why you shouldn’t talk to strangers online, and even how to make usernames that don’t give away any personal information. All of this – and more – will be useful in terms of your child’s safety online.
Install Parental Controls
Parents won’t be able to stand over their children’s shoulders at all times, which is why it’s crucial to install parental controls on any device they will be using. In this way, even when you can’t be with them when they’re online, you can be sure that they won’t accidentally stumble upon something they should not be seeing.
You can install programs that detect pornography and block it and other harmful content, for example. You can block games to ensure the children don’t get distracted during lessons. You can also regulate purchases and even include safe searches on the device so they can do their schoolwork in peace.
Keep Security Up to Date
Cyberbullies and unpleasant websites are not the only issues that a child might come up against online; hackers or cybercriminals are another big problem. By inadvertently opening an email or clicking on a link, your child might open up your entire computer network and all your financial information to a hacker, and that could cause some serious problems.
This is where keeping your computer’s security up to date can help a huge amount. When software gets older, there are more ways for hackers to get in and from there they can cause havoc. The better and more up to date your programs and in particular your security, the less likely this is to happen.