Thank you to CJ for this guest post about cyber safety and online games.
Using a computer is something which is pretty much a norm for all children of all ages nowadays. After all, the sooner children become accustomed to the online world the better. This is because we live in a day and age whereby using the internet and computer are essential because technology is so dominating in society today.
The best way to let your children get used to the computer is to allow them to play games. After all, children love playing games and this is assured to provide them a wealth of entertainment. Moreover there is a whole host of free online games for kids available on the internet today. This is good because it means that there is bound to be something which your little one likes. And, more importantly, these games are largely free of cost and thus you won’t have to pay a lot of money in order to keep your child entertained.
Nevertheless, one thing you need to do before you let your child play on the free online games for kids available on the internet is to educate them regarding cyber safety. After all, the internet can be a dangerous place and thus your child needs to protect themselves before they use the computer. If you fail to educate your child regarding the internet then they could easily stumble across a dangerous website, enter too much information or be targeted by cyber bullies. This is not something which should scare you; you just need to ensure you have a little chat with your children because the things that are second nature to you are likely to be a foreign concept to them.
Do not give out any personal information
Make sure your child knows how important it is not to give out any of their personal information. If someone asks your child for their name when they are playing on a game then tell your child to enter a false name or a nickname. It is crucial that they never give out their picture, their phone number, their address, the location of their school and so on and so forth.
If something comes up which they are unsure about they should ask you
If something comes up on the screen which your child is unsure about, even if it is simply a pop up advertisement, tell them to speak to you if they are unsure what to do. Make sure that you make the time in order to check up on what is wrong; otherwise if you start to lose interest then your child will stop asking you.
Don’t respond to bullies
A lot of online games boast a chat feature whereby players can interact with each other when they are playing. This is a great method of social interaction and enhances the fun factor. Nevertheless, the unfortunate consequence is that now and again you get people who come on and act as ‘keyboard warriors’ – meaning they sit behind their computer screen and say hurtful things. It is crucial that your child ignores these people and that they do not respond. They have not been targeted specifically, however if they do respond then they could open a can of worms.
Close pop ups and don’t fill out forms
If your child is playing a game and a pop-up appears or a fill out form then your child should click the ‘x’ in order to close it. These are likely to be spam and can infect your computer if your little one downloads something by mistake.
If you ensure that you have a little chat with your child about cyber safety then you can ensure that your kid is protected, that your personal information is protected and that your computer is too.
Author bio –
CJ is a qualified journalist. She tested several free online games for kids in order to gather information for this article.
The online realm of games and communication is the new playground… so rather than fight it – get equipped to handle it, and give your children the teen internet safety tools to safely interact in it.
I know I need to get more vigilant about cyber safety, my 7 year old is always playing games on the iPad and I’m worried about strange popups and things that come up while he’s playing!
Cyberbullying is very real and we need to make sure we take care of our kids. Over on our site we write to issues faced by kids with special needs and all these tips are perfect for our kids too. Thanks so much for sharing!
Online safety of kids has always been a hot topic among the parents. It is your responsibility to teach your kids about online safety while playing online games.