The internet has become part of human daily activities. Data and smartphones’ costs keep falling and are destroying the fetters of acquisition. But with the increasing challenge of parenting among career women and men, the mobile phone has become a kind of bridge among children in school, house maids and the kids. Experts give hints on how the kids can be protected from cyber predators.
 
It has become increasingly difficult to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to technology, especially as a parent trying to keep children safe as they grow up immersed in the digital world. Cybercrime, grooming, sexting, social media and so many others are begging for attention.
 
The differentiator for children no longer comes from whether or not they are online or have a device – smartphones, tablets, laptops and hotspots are everywhere – but rather, what social network they use or what secret place is the newest must-know space to attend.
 
Computers are binary, with no grey areas. If the kids know how to log into a site and clear their history, or they have a secret password and parents don’t, they are stuck.
 
Without that knowledge, it’s like the kids disappearing from home in the real world: you can’t find out where they go, who they meet, what they do, what they say or what is said to them. Most parents wouldn’t even know if their kid was missing online.
 
The internet is not the message, but it is the conduit for other media such as Twitter, Television, newspapers, and networks such as Facebook, Instagram and thousands of other members-only spaces. This is where the messages lie, on these well-known sites and networks and others parents might never have heard of; where just being there is the message kids communicate to their peers.
 
Research released for this year’s Safer Internet Day in the United Kingdom (UK) revealed that one in five children surveyed had been bullied with online images or videos. Additionally, roughly 70 per cent of kids had seen images and videos “not suitable for their age” while surfing the web.
 
Read more at http://thenationonlineng.net/protecting-minors-cyber-predators/