Guide to explain to a child the limits of the Internet

Would you let your young son into a nightclub or a bookmaker? Just as there are physical places where a child should not beThe same thing happens on the Internet. There are pages that you should not visit, services that you should not use… The dangers of the Internet are many. For children and adults. And educating your child in the limits of the Internet will make him know what you can or can’t do online and how to avoid problems and headaches.

The Internet is there and we cannot ignore it. With his good side and his bad side. Educating a child to detect and avoid the dangers of the Internet will make him more responsible and independent for tomorrow. Come on, a citizen prepared to detect false news, toxic attitudes or reprehensible behavior.

On the one hand, parental mediation. Accompany the minor in his first contacts with the internet. Always remembering that the Internet, YouTube or a mobile game is not a babysitter. And on the other hand, and depending on the autonomy of the minor, the Parental control. Through tools and apps we can limit the time and content that the child accesses.

Parental mediation: educate and accompany

Each parent or guardian has their ideas, preferences and attitudes. But generally we agree that we must adapt to each age stage. Leaving the minor alone in front of the television or the computer or smartphone has its risks if we have not previously discussed certain issues with him. The dangers of the Internet or viewing inappropriate content at your age are there.

Far from educating in the fear of the unknown, it is convenient prevent the minor that on the Internet you may meet people whose behavior is reprehensible and avoidable. This means that you must take precautions if you want to have a presence in TikTok, Instagram or Twitter. On social networks or online services that involve contact with other people, it is advisable to limit visibility to direct contacts. The apps themselves make this task easy. Moderating comments is also recommended.

It is also advisable to know the tastes and uses of the Internet that the minor makes to educate your child in conditions. Accompanying him or asking him directly. Knowing what pages you visit, what content you see or what games and applications you use is a way of get to know you better. In addition, it will help us to explain how those apps, pages and services work.

The dangers of the Internet share characteristics of the physical world. Hence, in both situations we must educate a child to be cautious, responsible and civic. Do not give personal information to strangers, do not pay attention to misleading phishing messages, do not open files from unknown sources, do not take part in toxic attitudes such as bullying strangers or classmates…

And as happens with the time they spend with video games, it is convenient to teach them to have balanced habits between the time they dedicate to housework, education, rest and fun. And that includes the Internet use compared to other recreational activities.

There are multitudes of guides and manuals to learn about the dangers of the Internet, the limits of the Internet, and what topics you should discuss with your child. An example is the portal Safe Internet For Kids. There you will find resources for parents and guardians related to cybersecurity, online fraud, online harassment, fake news and other topics related to educate your child in the good use from Internet.

Parental control and the dangers of the Internet

We said that parental mediation is a basic pillar to educate a child about the limits of the Internet. The second pillar, especially at early ages, is the Parental control. Tools that allow limit the time of use or what content is accessible from the smartphone, tablet or computer. A way to avoid some of the dangers of the Internet.

One of the most complete is qustodio. Available for PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad and Android devices and Chromebook, it allows you to control what content your children see on the Internet, block inappropriate contentlimit the time of use of the device, know what they see on YouTube, limit apps and games, etc.

Among its advantages, you can create a profile for each child according to their age and maturity. In addition, it has the possibility of locating the child’s smartphone and obtaining reports on the use of each profile to know their habits and thus adapt our role of mediators according to the tastes and preferences of your children.

If you are a Movistar Fixed Internet customer you can try the full version of Qustodio for free for one month, Qustodium Premium. With it you can perform all the mentioned controls on up to 5 devices at once.