Safe internet use for your children

The technology timeline for kids and teens is far from straightforward. Not every kid/teenager uses the same technology. Factors such as the child’s maturity level; parents’ view; and access to devices at home, school and friend’s houses come into play.

With this in mind, we are sharing an ‘essentials’ checklist for parents of children of any age, which highlights the actions you should take for your whole family.

These are by no means definitive lists (the tech world moves far too quickly to be able to promise that!) but they are a good starting point. We hope you find them useful. For more details, visit Here

Tips for safe internet use for children and young adults

• Create strong passwords for different websites using a good mix of alphabets, numbers and special characters and make sure that you do not disclose your passwords to anyone (except your parents).
• Don’t reveal personal information like name, address, date of birth, school details, passport number, credit card numbers, telephone numbers or family members’ names, or location details/whereabouts on social websites (especially when you are alone at home).
• Don’t befriend strangers. Ensure that your group involves only people known to you in person (such as friends and family). If someone approaches you, ensure that you are escorted with a responsible elder/parent and meet only in public places where many people are around.
• Don’t over-share pictures of home, yourself or your family on the internet. Never share your personal pictures or information without first checking with your parents/responsible elder.
• Pay specific attention to the language you use online and think before you post your pictures/videos/updates. Avoid posting information when you are angry or emotionally disturbed.
• Make sure that you log in/sign in and log out/sign out of your accounts.
• Before downloading/installing any app or software on your computer/mobile phone, it is good to first check with your parents or responsible elder to avoid damage to your device or jeopardize privacy.
• Don’t say or do anything that would hurt other people’s feelings or, that is against the law and puts you in bad light.
• Disclose your correct age when signing up on websites to ensure safe use of the internet. Visit only those websites that are relevant for your age. If you inadvertently click any website that displays adult content or any offensive/abusive content, close such websites immediately and keep your parents/responsible elder informed.
• Make sure that your computer/tablet/mobile phone has up-to-date security software as well as parental control software installed for safe internet use.
• Fix scheduled timings with your parents to access social sites and adhere to them. Meet your friends in person and play with them outdoors.

Disclosure and Transfer of Information to Third Parties

• Cyber stalking – where someone is repeatedly and persistently followed and pursued online by email or other electronic means.
• Cyber bullying – where someone harasses, embarrasses, taunts, insults or uses threatening behaviour by using internet, email or other electronic means.
• Child pornography – where someone captures/displays/sends images or videos of child/children (below 18 years) in an obscene or indecent (i.e. sexually explicit) manner.
• Pornography – where someone captures/displays/sends images or videos of the private body parts of any person without his/her consent.
• Hacking – where someone accesses or uses the computer/laptop/mobile or email or social sites’ accounts of another person without authorization/consent of that person (such as Gmail, Facebook, Twitter and other such social networking sites). This includes destroying or deleting or altering any information residing on such devices/websites.
• Identity theft – where someone uses the password or any other unique identification feature of another person without authorization/consent of that person.
• Cyber terrorism – where someone attempts to gain access to a computer/laptop/mobile without authorization/consent or causes denial of access to that person who is authorized to access that computer/laptop/mobile.
• Offensive communication – where someone sends any grossly offensive information of another person which is known to be false for the purpose of annoying, inconveniencing, insulting, deceiving, or taking vengeance.