7 tips to help keep kids safe online

With kids home and possibly bored, BPD encourages parents/guardians to do a quick review of the seven tips below to help keep kids safe online:

• Use parental controls/screen time features to limit adding contacts, accessing websites & search engines, or downloading/deleting apps. Spending a couple minutes to set this up can save you hours of heartache  Google Play Parental Controls  Apple Screen Time Parental Controls
• Explore device management programs to help you monitor their activity and limit website access.  Commonsense Media is a great resource for busy parents to research movies, apps, programs, books, etc.
• Secure your Wi-Fi connection and don’t share the password. You can block certain sites, restrict use during certain hours, or get notified of an issue. Keep your passwords in a safe place so your child can’t access them.
• Have age appropriate conversations about digital use and what is expected in your household if they wish to keep their privileges. Will they be allowed to delete texts, share location information with friends, etc.?
• Don’t forget to lockdown your Smart TV! Most televisions today offer full access to the web with a simple click!
• Know lock screen passwords and passwords for their email, social media and apps. Also don’t forget to research the apps they want to download beforehand, what do they do, what info is shared with the app developer.
• Review with your child what they are texting. It sets expectations and allows your child to use you as an excuse to their friends to not send anything inappropriate because their parent “reads their texts” Be sure to model good texting behaviors yourself, kids learn by example.