30 Jun Protect your Children Online During COVID-19 Pandemic
COVID-19 is having both short-term and far-reaching implications for our families, friends, and colleagues. It also has an impact on our work and will affect the achievement of our shared vision of a world without violence against children. As the virus continues to spread across the world, we are all facing multiple new stresses, including physical and psychological health risks, school and business closures, family confinement, isolation, and economic vulnerability. Through all of that, children are particularly vulnerable.
In addition, school closures mean that children spend more of their time online – and whether they are completing schoolwork, taking classes, or playing games, they are at higher risk of grooming, sexual exploitation, cyberbullying and other online threats, especially when coupled with an increased number of adults working from home and under prolonged isolation.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all aspects of our lives. With schools closed and lockdowns imposed, you may be spending all of your time at home and will most likely be spending a lot of that time online. This opportunity to spend much more time online can be both a positive thing and a social lifeline, but it also comes with the possibility of increased risks.
Tech fixes to protect your children online
- Set up parental controls
- Turn on SafeSearch on your browser
- Set up strict privacy settings on online apps and games
- Cover webcams when not in use
Create healthy and safe online habits
- Involve your child or teen in creating family tech agreements about healthy device use
- Create device-free spaces and times in your house (eating, playing, schoolwork, and sleeping)
- Help your child learn how to keep personal information private, especially from strangers – some people are not who they say they are!
- Remind your children that what goes online stays online (messages, photos, and videos)
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