Kevin Jarvis spent his career keeping cyber spaces safe from hackers, predators, and other assorted bad guys. If you can watch his whole interview, do it here. If not, here are the top ten takeaway tips I gleaned from our conversation.
Screentime and Family Link are the best apps for keeping your child’s device safer, and to help you keep tabs on what’s happening there.
Remind your kids that The Internet Is Forever. Nothing they post online (even in apps that make a point of being impermanent) is safe from popping up later in their lives, to haunt and embarrass them.
Never, ever, ever jailbreak your kid’s device, or allow them to do so. If you want to tinker, buy a used device for that specific purpose and keep it on airplane mode.
Always use false information for those security questions sites use to confirm your identity. It’s too easy to glean the real answers from social media.
Teach kids not to take those social media quizzes. They give away far more information than you want them too. Lead by example here as well.
Be wary of online messaging in video games and other apps your kids use. Predators often use the connections made there to escalate contact into a more private setting. They are usually far less monitored than social media and chat functions.
Talk with your kids about their photo backgrounds. It’s easy to inadvertently give away a lot of private information, or facts that could help a bad guy locate your kid and target them for victimization.
Google is your friend. If you search for “(app or game) parental controls” you can usually find a great tutorial about the risks involved with that platform and what you can do to mitigate them.
No bedrooms, no bathrooms is a great rule to set up early on. If your children know from the first day that they don’t use their devices in private spaces, that habit can help you keep them safe.
Involve your kids in your own education about devices and apps. They will likely know more than you do, and can be your most valuable ally in keeping them safe online.
This is a deep topic with some scary corners, but if you start with these ten tips, you’ll find yourself well on the way to a safer relationship between your kids and their devices. Thank you, Kevin, for sharing them with us.