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Do you feel safe about letting your child surf the internet?
The digital initiation of children is one of the major concerns of parents today. This is justified by the infinity of content on the internet and the lack of knowledge to identify what is harmful to children.
The internet is like a big metropolis, full of options to be explored. During the search for tourist spots, without knowing the best route, you will be subject to choose routes that endanger your physical integrity.
Now consider this analogy. The metropolis is the internet and the great explorer is your children. Are they prepared to overcome the challenges that come from the internet? Or rather, did you prepare your child for this?
The good news is that parents have allies in this regard. There are websites that specialize in guiding children to the safe use of the internet. Obviously, these sites do not replace conversations and daily attention by parents, but the playful way of teaching has a fundamental role.
Continue reading this blog post and get to know some of these tools.
Be Internet Awesome
There is a Google website called “Be Internet Awesome”. The website is entirely geared towards helping children become safe and confident explorers in the online world. It is possible to learn in a fun and playful way, through games and content. A suggestion for those who want to explore the platform is the game called Interland,an adventure with four phases that teach lessons in digital security in practice.
The phases are: Reality River, Mindful Mountain, Tower of Treasure and Kind Kingdom.
The Reality River phase teaches children not to fall into traps, paying attention to phishing and scam attempts. In addition to communicating to those responsible whenever they notice suspicious activity on the internet.
The Mindful Mountain guides the child to be careful with everything he shares, and to take into account the people with whom he shares. This phase also reinforces the importance of keeping confidential information secret (such as home address, location, etc.).
The Tower of Treasure guides children to protect their secrets and important information by creating strong passwords.
The Kind Kingdom shows that it’s cool to be kind, using positive messages and talks about blocking and reporting negative behaviors. As is the case of cyberbullying, which is very present on the internet and affects a large number of children.
All playful learning resources are signed through the Be Internet Awesome Pledge. The pledge inspires children to apply the best practices passed on during the learning journey.
Safe Internet
In addition to “Be awesome on the internet”, there is also a Brazilian website called Safe Internet, aimed at children, teenagers, parents and the elderly.
The website has a guide on safe internet, with easy and well-illustrated readings, dealing with several subjects. It also offers small tests to check the level of understanding about the contents visited.
There are also several educational games, such as crosswords, game of seven errors, connect the dots, word search, among others. These games allow children to learn while playing, which generates greater interest and absorption of knowledge.
A very interesting point of the secure Internet is the fact that it has an area that gathers links to denounce actions promoted on the internet.
Many children are afraid to share adverse situations witnessed or suffered on the internet with their parents. So, finding a safe place to get help is very important.
It is possible to make a report inside the website if you find something or someone acting in a way that could harm or offend other people.
References for parents and educators
There are many other sites that serve as a reference for parents and educators, some with an educational character and others, informative. It is also possible to search for international sources. The universe is wide, but we have selected two of the main sources to share details with you: Connect Safely e SaferNet.
Safernet
Safernet is one of the main Brazilian sources of data associated with crimes on the web, digital security, online behavior, privacy, among others.
The website creates and disseminates campaigns for digital awareness of people, regardless of age. In addition, it concentrates indicators on virtual crimes and educational materials.
Most importantly, Safernet provides Helpline, a channel designed to answer questions about Internet security and how to prevent risks and violations, such as intimidation, humiliation (cyberbullying), exchange and dissemination of unauthorized intimate messages (sexting or nudes), forced encounter or forced exposure (sextortion), excessive use of internet games and involvement with dangerous challenges.
Connect Safely
O site Connect Safely website is one of the major international references for digital education. Through the website it is possible to obtain a series of guides and deepen the understanding about applications, social networks, among others. Visit the Instagram parent and teen quick guide by clicking here.
In the guides provided by Connect Safely, parents and educators can access information about:
- Minimum age for using an application or social network;
- What are the risks associated with the use;
- How to protect privacy when using applications;
- Tools to promote security and control.
The number of apps, websites and games evaluated by Connect Safely is really impressive. Therefore, it consists of mandatory reading for people interested in obtaining knowledge to promote digital education.
In this blog post, we present good references for parents to encourage their children to use the internet safely.
It is worth checking out these sites with your children and teaching them in a practical and fun way.
In addition, OSTEC is always bringing educational content to inform and guide our followers. Follow us on social media and stay on top of our digital education publications.
Twitter and Instagram: @ostecsecurity. Facebook and Linkedin: OSTEC Business Security
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