Teach your child about cyber safety on social media

There are plenty of good things about social media — but also many risks and things kids need to avoid. They don't always make wise choices when they post something to a site, and this leads to problems. They may not be able to tell between a friend and a foe either. So, it's important to talk with your kids about how to employ cyber safety on social media. We have gone through Norton’s advices for 2021 and recommendations by Staysafe.org, the website of National Cyber Security Alliance. Listed below are some quick points from them.  

Know social media rules and laws 
Do you know the minimum age for joining Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and Facebook is 13 and for WhatsApp it’s 16? Find out what apps and sites your child is interested in. Then read app reviews, age limits, and fine print on usage terms  

Get your account 
If you don’t have an account on the same social media site, get it. Familiarise yourself with the site. Make sure you know exactly what can or cannot be done, and figure out the controls 

Teach your kid about posting 
Deleting a post does not mean it’s gone. All online posts, comments, likes, and shares can be traced, tracked and saved elsewhere. Posting inappropriate content could damage children’s lives. What’s more, it may come back to endanger them when they get older and enter college or the job market 

Emphasise on the importance of privacy 
Most social media sites request names, dates of birth, school names, and address. Teach your children how much personal information can become too much information online. And remember that personal information exposed in a data breach opens up children to identity theft 

Check the privacy setting on apps regularly: 
Companies often update their privacy policies. Make sure you read about them, follow them, and have the correct options chosen for your kids 

Use parental control settings 
Not just for social media on laptops, change the settings on smart devices used by kids to ask your permission before installing an app 

Talk to your kids 
Children should not be scared, but they ought to know about bullies, imposters, virus, spam, pornography, extremists and blackmailers. Life is no cakewalk and social media has criminally minded people on it. Tell them about the bad guys.