Monitoring Your Child's Technology Use
Protecting Our Kids
In this technology driven world, kids seem to have brains that are prewired to understand technology and how it works! So, it is very important to protect our children from internet content that is not appropriate for them. We want parents to know, we work extremely hard to protect our students and we teach the students digital citizenship everyday at Cahaba Elementary. In this handout, you will learn about ways to block content on various devices and monitor your child’s internet activity at home.
Here are some general tips for keeping your kids safe on the internet at home.
YOU OWN IT
Set up the device so that it is in the parent’s name and not the child. This is the easiest way to control content and keep the tech savvy kid from hacking parental controls!
SET HOUSE RULES
When you give your child an electronic device, set up house rules. Make sure to list the consequences for breaking those rules and post it in a place where kids will see it often, like the refrigerator. It might be difficult to follow through with consequences if they break the rules, but trust me, it is very effective. Kids love technology and they do not want to be restricted from it again.
TEACH DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP AND HOW TO STAY SAFE ONLINE
Talk to your child about the importance of Digital Citizenship and protecting their information when online. CommonSence.org is a great resource for tips on how to teach this to your child. We use their tips everyday in our classrooms!
MAKE A DIGITAL DEVICE CHARGING STATION
Knowing where devices are kept and when kids are on them is the best monitoring technique. Tell your child to let you know when they get online or designate a place in the house that they have to be while online. At night before bed, have a charging station that is close to your bedroom where all devices must be charged overnight.
SEEK AN ALLIANCE WITH YOUR INTERNET PROVIDER
Most internet providers have parental controls. Contact your internet provider and ask them to walk you through set up. These are absolutely free with your service and many times go unitized because parents are not familiar with them.
TURN ON AND LOCK THE SAFE SEARCH FEATURE ON YOUR INTERNET BROWSERS
All internet browsers have safe searches. Google and Youtube are the most utilized browsers by children. See the section on internet browsers below to learn how to do this.
Searching Safely on Internet Browsers
Click on the icons below to find step by step resources for how to turn on Safe Search in each of the major Internet Browsers.
Searching Safely on Devices
Click on the icons below to find step by step resources for how to monitor your child on different types on devices.