When i first read these, it was through an email I recieved at work from one of the advertising agencies that sends us news releases. It was from a strong lady that I admire and love; Dorothy Ooka who was writing about what she thought were the best ways to safe guard children on the internet.
Dorothy is the Google communication manager for East and Francophone Africa.
She wrote and said that child protection online should be taken as a priority because it is a growing concern around the world and for safety reasons. Which I agree and i think the British PM will agree, not after that urge to Google to protect children from Ponography. She wrote that the internet should be used as a learning place for young people but under guidance and protection.
We all known google has alot of answers to alot questions… that good friend of ours never disappoints when asked about anything… he is Mr.IKnowItAll.
How do you safe guard a child from getting werid answers from that guy? After all you can’t stop a child from asking.
Dorothy suggested adult should keep watch on what children are surfing. Thise sneaky little thibg are brigth but still need guidance around the web. You as an adukt should know what the chikd is surfing and advise them accordingly. For the older children, parents should ask them, talk to them about the kind of sites they visit when on the internet.
Parents should use filter tools like Google SafeSearch which is designed to screen sites that contain sexually explicit content and remove them from search results. Here one needs to modify their computer’s SafeSearch settings by clicking on Search settings at the top right of the Google homepage as well as use a password-protected SafeSearch Lock. SafeSearch is also accessible on your phone.
Teach your child Communication skills in a way that if the child can’t say it to someone’s face, they shouldn’t text it, email it, instant message it, or post it as a comment on someone’s page or tweet it. I know this to be true, the best way to learn about communicating is through that.
“Children should learn how to distinguish reliable sources from unreliable ones, and how to verify information they find online. When they are working on school projects, make sure kids understand that cutting and pasting content directly from a website may be plagiarism.”
Ms Ooka wrote; This will help them become better writers, better bloggers and better thinkers, children who can read original writing and translate it in to what they think is right to them.
She suggested teaching Internet safety to the children because this knowledge will be need by them when they grow older. Here she wrote and said,
“Teach your child how to flag inappropriate content on YouTube, or any other site hosting user generated content. On YouTube, simply click on the “Flag” link directly below the video. Additionally, opting in to Safety Mode on YouTube means that videos with mature content or that have been age-restricted will not show up. While no filter is 100% accurate, we use community flagging and porn-image detection to help identify and hide inappropriate content. It is also designed to hide objectionable comments. More tips are available on our YouTube Safety Centre. Also note that, like many sites hosting user generated content, YouTube is not intended for children under the age of 13.”
As a way of life we have to be private about somethings we share on the internet. Thus the need to use privacy settings and sharing controls comes in. If you want to be in charge of your content or what you are sharing as a user, using sharing controls is thr best tool for that. It is also important when you or your children share personal information such as names, addresses, or phone numbers, on public sites, it safe guards them.
As every one has a mobile phone now from the age of 10 of less and above, Ooko said that one will need to incorporate geolocation features, and must be sure to adjust the privacy settings so that you can share as much or little as you want about your location. For children this important because it safe guards them from people who might want to harm them.
As a parent you need to protect your child’s passwords and limit their meetings with off the web.This safe guards the child from meeting strangers because many people claim to be who they are not.
Help prevent viruses from your child’s computer, use an antivirus software and update it regularly. Make sure your children avoid downloading from file-sharing websites and don’t accept files or open email attachments from unknown people.
Remember parents what you teach your child when young, sticks with them when they are adults.
