These tips come courtesy of Ellen Ohlenbusch, President of McGruff SafeGuard (www.GoMcGruff.com)
1. Keep computers in an open area – not in a child’s bedroom
2. Tell kids to keep passwords safe, private and difficult to guess – no pet names as passwords!
3. Don’t allow your child to maintain multiple accounts with alias names
4. Teach children to respect others online, as they would in person
5. Discuss bullying and the emotional impact it creates
6. Discuss what content is and is not appropriate to share online
7. Tell kids that what they post online is “out there” forever – they can’t control how other people will use their photos or information
8. Discuss how ‘piling’ on is not appropriate. That while they may not start something, if they see cyber bullying happening, they should not contribute. [editorial comment from Joe Kelly: I think we also must help our kids learn how to intervene—one of the biggest contributors to bullying is the passivity of bystanders. See the Surviving Bullies website.]
9. Set a clear standard/example for your children to follow
10. Install a parental monitoring software that sends email alerts if cyber-bullying is detected.
1 comments:
Joe,
As a youth worker and father, I appreciate you taking the time to post about this topic. I think we all have read about the horrible incidents of cyber-bullying and the more we can educate parents and kids on what to look for the less likely these tragedies will occur. Kudos to you!
~Joe Beckman- founder- Papa Gio LLC
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