Internet Safety For Teens: 12 Tips And Advice For Parents

Most teens use the internet to play games, do their homework (or study), or socialize. But while being online can be useful, it also leads to cyber risks that make internet safety for teens an absolute necessity.

These figures are highly likely to have increased during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as children and teens are now spending more time online due to school closures, home isolation, and hybrid learning, making internet safety a more crucial pursuit than ever (1) (2).

Read this post to learn about different cyber risks that the internet poses and how you can help your teen fight them.

Internet Risks For Teenagers

Teenagers are vulnerable to various internet or cyber risks due to their prolonged screen time and online presence (2). Some of the internet risks for teenagers are (3) (4) (5):

1. Cyberbullying: Your child may become involved in or a victim of online bullying through, for example, videos shared on social networks and digital messaging platforms. Cyberbullying can be quite destructive and is more prevalent among teenagers, peaking at 15 years (6).

2. Cyber dating abuse: This cyberbullying involves a partner or ex-partner who uses digital media or insulting or threatening messages to dominate the other in the relationship. Teenage girls are at a higher risk of being victims of cyber dating abuse than boys.

3. Sexting: It involves sending images or videos with sexual undertones. It is more prevalent among older children and teenagers, and the prevalence increases with age.

3. Online grooming: An adult (or a predator) may groom a minor to act in their favor and obtain sexual material from them or sexually abuse them. This adult could be a stranger or a known person.

4. Problematic internet use: If your child overuses online platforms and prefers online social interaction, it may negatively affect their personal life.

5. Exposure to inappropriate material: Your child may be exposed to online content that is inappropriate, dangerous, illegal, aggressive, hateful, or sexual.

6. Legal and financial: Your child may engage in activities with negative, legal, or financial consequences, such as disclosing your credit card data or intruding on another person’s rights.

7. Physical molestation: While socializing online, your child may encounter predators who lure them into meeting in person after gaining their trust, putting their safety at risk.

8. Online games: Children and teenagers spend a lot of time in online gaming, potentially resulting in gaming addictions and disorders such as Internet Game Disorder (IGD). Additionally, some Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) allow strangers to communicate, potentially exposing your child to predators (7).

Your child may also be at risk with the following online activities (5)

• Connecting with strangers on chat rooms and social media platforms

• Accepting strangers’ live webcam invitations

• Using the webcam

• Downloading pictures and videos from unknown sites

• Filling out online forms and profiles on untrusted sources

• Arranging face-to-face meetings with online friends

• Posting pictures or comments on blogs and social media platforms

• Responding to threatening or abusive posts or comments

Internet Safety Tips For Teens: Advice For Parents

The internet can be a platform for predators and various cybercrimes; therefore, educating your teens regarding internet safety is crucial. Teachers, parents, caregivers, and counselors play an important role in providing appropriate internet safety rules.

The following are some internet or cyber safety tips to help prevent potential online risks for your teenager (2) (6):

1. Supervise their online activity and data usage history, and review the apps and websites they use.

2. Practice internet safety yourself, particularly regarding privacy, and teach it to your children (8).

3. Set appropriate restrictions over your children’s computer and smartphone use (4).

4. Apply “parental controls” and “parental block” tools to prevent your child from visiting inappropriate websites.

5. Set limits on your teen’s cell phone data access and keep computers with internet access in a central location in the house, not in their bedroom.

6. Teach your children to recognize and interpret information shared or comments made by predators.

7. Assist teens in responding effectively to sexual solicitation and cyberbullying.

8. If your child is a victim of a cybercrime, reassure them that you will not shut their internet access or take away their cell phones permanently. However, such actions are occasionally necessary for your child’s immediate safety.

9. Encourage your child to participate in physical activities and social meetings. This will not only minimize internet risks but also positively impact their life.

10. If your child uses your smartphone or computer, create separate accounts to prevent accidental data or file access (9).

11. Beware of any signs of cyberbullying or abuse in your child.

12. Educate them on internet risks and the potential dangers of sharing information online.

Internet Safety Tips For Teens

Here are some internet safety tips you could offer to your teens (10) (11):

• Minimize handing out personal information, such as passwords, on social networks or digital messaging platforms (5) and do not share them even with best friends

• Analyze all photos and posts before sharing them online

• Always make use of the account’s privacy settings

• Beware of strangers met online

• Avoid getting into suspicious chat rooms

• Be careful while downloading pictures or videos from untrusted sources

• Avoid using provocative names and pictures and posting sensitive information

• Avoid playing games with individuals who seem suspicious

• Avoid using free Wi-Fi connections

• Report to a parent when someone is behaving weirdly or inappropriately or harassing them online

References

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