Page 106 - South Mississippi Living - July, 2019

HEALTHY LIVING always monitor INTERNET SAFETY
story by Lynn Lofton
Children are now growing up with internet access at their fingertips, not always a good thing. What can parents do to keep their children safe?
It begins with monitoring
all online activity and researching websites to check their appropriateness. “Parents can be involved with their child’s computer time, researching topics together to allow for supervision and teaching of appropriate computer habits,” says Patricia Gordon, a licensed counselor with Singing River Health System’s Behavioral Health Services. “Because children can make unknown mistakes and be easily susceptible to games, music and other downloads, it’s important to keep your computer or internet device in an open area near you for supervision and intervention as needed.”
She recommends monitoring internet activity by staying
aware of the websites your child is visiting and implementing parental controls to restrict or allow access to certain websites. Parents can download anti- spyware programs and create a separate account for their child to use that has limited privileges.
“Parents should set rules and boundaries about internet access and software programs. Children should know that all internet
use will be monitored and that parents have access to all their passwords,” Gordon added. “Appropriate consequences should be implemented if
the rules are violated, including restriction from internet devices.”
Gordon says there are resources for security technology that parents can access online. “There are ongoing efforts by various organizations to address these needs, but parental guidance and supervision are as critical as technological development,” she said. “Parents have to remind their children that they are in charge and are more experienced in dealing with life and making decisions.”
As children and teens may be reluctant to share information with parents for fear of being punished, it’s important to maintain open communication, encouraging them to let parents know when an inappropriate site has been encountered, or if someone they don’t
know tries to communicate with them. “Parents need to explain
the dangers of the internet and the reality of predators. Children should
be reminded that other people can pretend
to be
someone else and this can happen purposely to hurt them,” Gordon said. “Parents should explain
the dangers of sharing private information and pictures.”
Regarding the amount of screen time for children, most literature recommends one to two hours a day and not any screen time before age two, Gordon says. “Parents should be able to determine how much time their child can handle. Some children are more affected than others at various ages and can become easily distracted from school and family obligations,
or become obsessed with social media that causes anxiety related to the emotional content shared among peers.”
106 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living •
FOR KIDS