Online Safety for Kids

As we all know, Internet access is not reserved strictly for adults checking work emails and attending Zoom meetings. In recent years, ease of Internet access for children has expanded dramatically; the percentage of children between the ages of 3 and 18 with home Internet access has increased to 95% as of 2019.  On one hand, these developments make it easier to connect with each other and provide unlimited resources for schoolwork. Unfortunately, this leaves children vulnerable to a variety of risks, including scams, online predators, and inappropriate content. 

So how serious are these risks? And how can parents monitor their children’s online activity and protect them from harm?

Consequences

As previously mentioned, having access to the Internet works both ways; users are able to access boundless amounts of information but also give a certain degree of dangerous access to malicious actors if not careful. 

Scams and Malware 

Although technological literacy is a skill that has developed at increasingly younger ages, children are still vulnerable to the same scams and malware that target adult users.  Scammers typically target children to obtain sensitive information, like account details, financial information, and other personally identifying information. Links to information-collecting malware or phishing websites hide themselves within advertisements or instant messages. In many cases, victims will not know that their accounts have been breached until they notice fraud in their bank and credit card statements. Additionally, children can also be misled into downloading seemingly legitimate apps. These apps may offer a free trial upon download but automatically begin an expensive subscription at the end of the trial period. Although these predatory apps are not traditional scams, they deliberately target younger audiences who will likely not pay attention to subscription terms.  

Online Predators

Unfortunately, child predators continue to be threats both in the real world and online. In many ways, the Internet has made it significantly easier for these predators to gain access to potential victims. For example, predators looking to groom children online will often visit popular social media sites and pretend to be younger in order to befriend potential victims. Once befriended, it is not difficult for the predator to establish and escalate the online relationship. 

Inappropriate Content

Unmonitored use of the Internet may result in discovering content unsuitable for children. This may include violent or sexual content, both of which are easily accessible via any Internet search engine. Additionally, this content can be seen on various social media feeds and video sharing websites, such as Facebook and YouTube. 

Mental Health Risks

Recent studies have shown a positive relationship between the use of social media and adverse effects on mental health, specifically in adolescents and young adults. These symptoms include anxiety disorders and depression, among other problems.  In many cases, this results from social media warping the perceptions of other people’s lives. For example, scrolling through a social media feed of posts from college students may lead other students to wonder why their days are spent studying and working instead of partying and drinking. 

Precautions

General Internet Browsing

Several precautionary steps exist for parents wanting to protect their children while they surf the Internet. 

First, parents must check that the browser that is being used is properly configured to protect against potential threats. Using a “kid-safe” browser remains one of the more straightforward methods of mitigating risks via browser choice. These specialized browsers automatically filter questionable content and grant parents additional control over their children’s Internet activity. Alternatively, some popular browsers include built-in parental controls. Microsoft Edge’s “Kids Mode” sets privacy settings to strict and automatically filters unsafe content. Furthermore, this mode cannot be exited without a password or PIN. 

Next, access to inappropriate websites can be completely denied with a DNS filter. This router configuration completely blocks certain sites for anybody on a particular network. DNS filtering comes in especially handy when children use multiple devices. As long as the devices are connected to the same network with the DNS filter enabled, these restrictions will be enforced. 

Streaming Content

As of 2022, Netflix alone boasts a subscriber count of over 220.67 million. The increasing popularity of streaming services in general means that parents need to pay increased attention to the content their children are consuming. Thankfully, many of these services offer parental controls to better monitor account activity. For example, both Netflix and Hulu provide a version of their service designed specifically for children. This option only displays shows and movies suitable for children and removes access to account settings so that it cannot be easily disabled. 

Supervising streaming activity means that parents need to stay informed and accountable when it comes to the content that their children are consuming. Websites such as Common Sense Media provide parents with valuable information regarding the age-appropriateness of various media. But ultimately, parents need to verify these recommendations themselves in order to absolutely validate their choices. 

Social Media 

Although social media websites do not all currently offer significant parental control options, there are still many steps that parents can take to protect their children from any unnecessary online risks. To begin, regardless of age, it remains a good idea to make all personal social media pages private by default. This ensures that your personal information and daily activities are only seen by those you trust . Additionally, this restricts who can message you, making it harder for complete strangers to send messages to an account.  Next, each social media site provides their own limited measures for granting parents more control over their children’s social media activity. For example, Instagram allows parents to restrict screen time and monitor the people their children interact with online. TikTok offers similar screen time restriction features, while also allowing parents to filter content they deem inappropriate. Notably, Facebook does not support any substantial parental controls at the time of writing. 

Video Games 

Modern video games have significant overlap with social media. The Internet connects users from around the world, enabling previously impossible cooperation and competition. But as expected, the communication required to participate in these online games can leave children open to verbal abuse and inappropriate conversations. Additionally, certain games contain content that is unsuitable for young audiences. 

In order to properly manage their children’s gaming habits, parents must determine which games utilize online communication while also becoming acquainted with the ESRB rating system. Online chat is notably difficult to moderate and filter, especially in the case of voice chat. As a result, parents will need to decide whether they want their children using these communications channels at all. The ESRB rating of a game is a helpful indicator of the intended audience for a particular game. 

According to the ESRB website, these ratings, in order, are: 

• Everyone (E) – content is generally suitable for all ages 
• Everyone 10+ (E10+) – content is suitable for ages 10 and up. Typically contains more cartoon or fantasy violence, mild language or suggestive themes.
• Teen (T) – content is suitable for ages 13 and up. Typically contains violence, minimal blood, suggestive themes, crude humor, and/or infrequent use of strong language
• Mature (M) – content is suitable for ages 17 and up. Typically contains intense violence, blood, gore, sexual content, and/or strong language. 
• Adults Only 18+ (AO) – content is suitable for ages 18 and up. Typically contains prolonged scenes of intense violence, graphic sexual content, and/or gambling with real currency.

Conclusion 

Clearly, although the Internet is a useful tool in many cases, special precautions need to be taken when in the hands of children. Scammers and predators will continue to look for opportunities to exploit children who are inexperienced in the workings of the Internet. Thankfully, developers have made several options available for parents to be able to keep a closer eye on their children’s online activity, although there is no bulletproof substitute for simply paying attention.  Protect your children and your wallet by maintaining your technological literacy.

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