Internet Safety Tips for Young Mobile Users
While many parents still struggle to understand how to keep their kids safe while using their home computer, it is quickly becoming even more important to address today’s young mobile users. A growing percentage of children have access to a mobile device, whether it is a smart phone, a tablet or another personal computing device. Keeping them from accessing potentially harmful content, downloading viruses or performing some other dangerous behavior can be difficult.
Fortunately, there are many things which can be done to help improve the overall internet safety of mobile users. The following tips can apply to users of all ages, but they are especially helpful for parents who are attempting to protect their children through increased internet safety.
Internet Safety Apps
The fastest and easiest way to improve the overall online safety of mobile devices is to take advantage of one of the many high-quality internet safety apps that are available. There are several different types of apps which can target either a specific type of risk or can offer overall protection. Choosing the right app takes some time and investigation, but it is well worth the effort. Apps like Vodafone Guardian are extremely easy to use and allow parents to set up broad security and safety measures related to internet browsing, texting, downloading and much more.
Talking to Children
There is truly no substitute for some face time with the kids. Ideally parents should talk to their children before giving them access to a mobile device, and have continuous conversations on a regular basis. Depending on the age of the child it is best to have frank conversations explaining the risks of different online activities.
Kids usually already have a surprisingly deep understanding of what types of things happen online, but letting them know that you are aware of them as well can be very helpful. Taking the time to go over the risks of texting with strangers, downloading software without consent and viewing inappropriate websites is essential. During this conversation make sure to layout clear rules on what they can and cannot do on their mobile device, and explain the consequences if they don’t follow the rules.
Monitoring Activity
Once you’ve installed the right apps and talked to your kids, it is essential to take the time to review the mobile activity of your children. There are a variety of different areas which can be checked to see if kids are making any poor choices with their mobile device including the following:
Check Internet History - Browsing through your children’s Internet history will show what they have been doing. If they are regularly clearing out their history, that may be a sign they are making bad choices. Looking at the browser’s history is easy to do, but each device is different so make sure to learn how it works.
View Texting – It is typically possible to look at how many texts are being sent and to what numbers right online with most mobile providers including Vodafone. You can also look right on the device itself to see what is being said.
Review Apps – It is much more difficult to hide downloaded items on a mobile device than it is a regular computer. Looking through each app on a regular basis will let you know what is being downloaded.
Some parents worry that taking these types of steps is an invasion of their child’s privacy, but it is something that is an essential part of internet safety for children. It is the role of the parent to keep their kids safe, even if that means taking the time to review their online activity. When done properly and on a regular basis it is possible to protect your children while they are using mobile devices without having to spend hours to do it.
