Protect your family online
Article published in Longmeadow Neighbors
(July 2022)
With the school year out and summer in full swing, filling the hours can sometimes be a challenge. As, four to six hours a day in front of a screen has become the norm over the past couple years, it may be harder to structure that screen time during the leisure of summer. If you’ve ever wondered how to make some sense of this, let’s take a quick look at some best practices to keep everyone safe while spending time on the internet this summer.
ONLINE SAFETY TIPS FOR HOW TO PROTECT YOUR FAMILY
As parents, it is in our nature to want to share proud moments of our kids with one another from texting pictures to posting on our social accounts. As we attend that next sporting event or head off to that well-deserved family vacation, here are a few safety tips you can incorporate to protect you and your family from nefarious activities.
The easiest place to start is to review your social media privacy settings. Who can see your content? Is your profile public or private? If it is public, you may consider changing it to private or friends only.
Remove unwanted followers/friends to make sure you don’t have anyone on your account you do not want to be connected to. In addition, you may want to consider these posting best practices.
Don’t post in real-time. If you are on vacation for the week, it’s better that people don’t know you are out of town.
Turn off location tags on your posts. It shouldn’t be public knowledge where you take your kids to play or where they go to school.
ONLINE SAFETY TIPS FOR HOW TO PROTECT YOUR KIDS
Have conversations about what internet safety is. It may be fun to do the next TikTok challenge, but many people they don’t know can see their content.
Monitor their online activity with apps like Bark or MobiStealth. There are several available that can help you track what they are doing.
For more information reach out to Robyn Lee Miller, Founder of MorningBird Media and Mom to a Youngin’ who knows how to swipe.