Interland – a Guide for parents to make their kids internet ready
Be Internet Awesome
Good (and bad) news travels fast online, and without some forethought, kids can find themselves in tricky situations that have lasting consequences. The solve? Learning how to share with those they know and those they don’t.Encourage thoughtful sharing by treating online communication like face-to-face communication; if it isn’t right to say, it isn’t right to post.Create guidelines about what kind of communication is (and isn’t) appropriate.Keep personal details about family and friends private.It’s important to help kids become aware that people and situations online aren’t always as they seem. Discerning between what’s real and what’s fake is a very real lesson in online safety.If statements about “winning” or getting something for “free” feel too good to be true, they most likely are.Fair exchanges shouldn’t involve giving away any personal information.Always think critically before acting online and learn to trust your intuition. Be on guard for phishing attempts—efforts to steal information like login or account details by pretending to be a trusted contact in an email, text, or other online communication.Personal privacy and security are just as important online as they are offline. Safeguarding valuable information means thinking about what’s incoming and outgoing and being smart about passwords, the information you share, and understanding the choices you have when it comes to protecting your privacy online.Make it memorable, but avoid using personal information like names or birthdays.Use a mix of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, symbols, and numbers.R3pl@ce le++ers wit# sYmb0ls & n^mb3rs 1ike Thi$.Do not use the same password on multiple sites.Create a few different variations of the same password for different accounts.Understand how your personal data is and isn’t usedUse privacy settings on apps and sites to control what you shareThe Internet is a powerful amplifier that can be used to spread positivity or negativity. Kids can take the high road by applying the concept of “treat others as you would like to be treated” to their actions online, creating positive impact for others and disempowering bullying behavior.Use the power of the Internet to spread positivity.Stop the spread of harmful or untrue messages by not passing them on to others.Respect others’ differences.Block mean-spirited or inappropriate behavior online.Make an effort to provide support to those being bullied.Encourage kids to speak up against and report online bullying.One lesson that applies to any and all encounters of the digital kind: When kids come across something questionable, they should feel comfortable talking to a trusted adult. Adults can support this behavior by fostering open communication at home and in the classroom.Be clear about family or classroom rules and expectations around technology, as well as consequences for inappropriate use.Keep the dialogue going by checking in frequently and encouraging kids to ask questions.Extend the conversation to other trusted adults like teachers, coaches, counselors, friends, and relatives.