ONLINE SAFETY FOR PARENTS
Manufacturer’s friendly advice to parents on best practise when considering online safety:
Many social media apps that contain chats or communities have an age limit.
We recommend that young peoples use of social media apps is always supervised by an adult:
- Set up the account together with your child and make sure you have the right security settings applied and saved. Accompany your child through the first steps by previewing the videos your child uploads. Also look at the comments on the videos and discuss them with your child.
- Ask your child which media he or she likes to use, which apps and platforms are popular with friends and school classes.
- Agree on rules of conduct for the apps and usage times that suit your family’s everyday routine. There should also be clear agreements about when the smartphone needs to be turned off.
- Watch your child. If something seems strange to you, speak to them about your concerns and assumptions. • Always protect your children from inappropriate content.
- Make sure that your child never discloses any personal information.
- Be aware of hidden costs.
- In principle, all apps can make “in-app purchases” possible.
- Downloading protected content can lead to copyright infringement and is punishable by law.
The simple and vast distribution possibilities of the Internet, apparent anonymity and the habit of immediately sharing funny or embarrassing content with friends can become a danger if it is used by others for bullying purposes.
Make it clear to your child that sharing pictures, text or comments is not fun and can make others unhappy. Make them understand that you should think first, then press the forward button – and that you can distance yourself from offensive content.
- The first rule of the internet is: The net forgets nothing!
Limited visibility or limited time content does not disappear.
What was once online can often be retrieved later and screenshots can be taken quickly.
Even deleted texts and photos or deactivated websites can be found via the cache of search engines or via Internet archives. Therefore, think before you post. That applies to children as well as to adults.