Internet Safety for Kids is the responsibility of everyone. Parents, Grandparents, and Caregivers have the opportunity to start implementing Internet Safety for Kids at a very early age.
Playing Roblox with your Children/Grandchildren is a great way to bond and Practice Internet Safety while still having fun.
Unfortunately, not everyone is fortunate enough to play games with their children or grandchildren.
For many of us, the time to play these games is a luxury. We do not have the time or money to invest in them as frequently as we would like. Therefore, it is more important now than ever for parents to master all the tools available to make the internet as safe as possible for their children. Playing with my Granddaughter is a powerful tool I plan to use for as long as possible, in addition to the available parental control tools and options.
Key internet security/safety protocols we should all use.
Whether we can play with them or not, we should all talk to our children and grandchildren about internet safety.
- Teach them not to give out personal information, like their name, address, or school, to anyone they don’t know online.
- Help them choose strong passwords for their online accounts, and remind them never to share these passwords with anyone else.
- Ensure they understand that anything they post online – a picture, comment, or status update – is public and permanent.
- Tell them that people online might not have good intentions, and show them how to spot these “red flags.”
Multiplayer games are here to stay!
Multiplayer games are games where more than two players play. These games provide an online environment that can be compared to the cafeteria in your local elementary school. Only in this school are there no monitors and no supervision. Our children are left alone to learn the accepted social behaviors created by other children. I know, scary! More scary is these games are not going away. In addition, we are all aware of the adults playing these games just to prey on children.
If predators can create accounts to prey on our children, we can create accounts to keep them safe. My Granddaughter showed interest in games at a very early age, and now at 4, she has mastered Roblox. I found playing with her is the easiest way to teach her player etiquette and how to behave. Games like Roblox are multiplayer, and here is a small list of player etiquette and behavior. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiplayer_video_game
- Be courteous.
- No trash Talk
- No Profanity
- Be Friendly
- Welcome newcomers (Noob)
- Do not take the outcome of the game personally
In addition to the above list, I teach her what to do if someone is not following the rules. How to respond to a bully. How to tell the difference between a bully and someone just new at it? By playing these games with my Granddaughter, I experience these unfortunate but inevitable events with her and guide her to a better understanding and ways to cope.
She will get to an age where she will no longer want to play with her granny. That is ok. I am ready for that, but when it is time for me to step aside, I will feel a bit more secure that she will have learned as much as possible to keep herself safe. It is not one hundred percent, but even if I increase her odds of safety just a bit more, it is a bit more than what it could be should she learn on her own.
Resources:
- Internet Safety For Kids
- Tips for talking to your child about online safety.
- Age by Age Guide
- Child Net
Internet safety is ongoing and there is no way around it. Protecting our children and ourselves is a way of life. Lets not forget the old school scams that have been around before the internet they are still active and ongoing. I talk about it in my Protect Your Personal Information post.
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