Digitization even affects the everyday lives of small children. In the face of the omnipresence of smartphones and the Internet, parents inevitably face the question of how to responsibly introduce their children to digital media. We will address some of the most important Internet for children questions in this post: How parents protect their very young children from specific online content.
Early contact with Internet and Digital Devices
With their touchscreens smartphones and tablets easily can be handled by toddlers, and more or less useful age-appropriate apps are available in a large selection. Even babies are kept happy by some parents with technology gadgets, but honestly, that is far too early, according to most experts. There isn’t a firm age recommendation of when children should be introduced to the Internet and digital devices. Parents should not just consider the individual development of the child, but also keep an eye on the protection of minors from the inappropriate content.
Influence of Parents and Older Siblings
The curiosity is quickly aroused in small children, especially when they see their parents and possibly older siblings handling the devices in everyday life. Toddlers want to try for themselves. But they should not do this alone, so internet-enabled devices should not be left unattended. Not only this keeps away from the wrong content a positive side effect: It also prevents unintentional damage.
Help from the Internet for Children
There are many guides how parents can provide safe surfing environment for their offspring and avoid dangers on the Internet are shown by various websites. This includes:
- SafeKids.com is one of the oldest and most enduring sites for Internet safety.
- Safe Online Surfing is a special website for children, funded by the Federal Government and ran by the FBI – https://sos.fbi.gov/ that offers training modules for kids to play to learn how they should use the Internet safely
- Connectsafely.org is a Silicon Valley, a California-based nonprofit organization dedicated to educating users of connected technology about safety, privacy, and security. Here you’ll find research-based safety tips, parents’ guidebooks, advice, news, and commentary on all aspects of tech use and policy.
Internet for Children: The Best Tips
Here is a number of general recommendations for parents:
- Install age-appropriate apps for the kids on the devices.
- Especially for small children, it is essential that parents accompany them and make sure that they can only use selected apps and websites.
- To prevent children on the Internet from accidentally shopping, disable the “In-app purchases” option for apps. The mobile service provider can also set up a third-party block to block payment offers in an app or on websites.
- Although the temptation is sometimes high, parents should not use smartphone and tablets as babysitters.
- Agree on time limits with the children for the Internet and consistently enforce compliance. In media-free periods, other activities should be encouraged.
- The role model function should not be underestimated. Children can not understand Internet restrictions if their parents are continually using their smartphone or sitting at the computer. Especially those who want to delay the contact with the Internet and digital devices in infants.
- Child search engines such as https://www.kiddle.co/ and https://wackysafe.com/ (operated by Google and Microsoft) are theoretically an excellent choice to ensure safe surfing for children.
Safeguard Your Children By Providing Time Limit Controls and Site Access Blocking
The eBlocker Family product offers a solution with individual White and Blacklists Parental Controls. You can configure the device to control time limits for any member of your family and you can also block access to sites not family friendly.
In addition to access controls, to effectively protect your families privacy on the web, you also need to block all tracking services, ad servers, and data collectors. The smart solution is the eBlocker. The device hides your IP address, stops data collectors and blocks advertising – conveniently for all Internet devices on your home network and with no complicated software installation.