Kids on the grid: how to make online life safe for your child?

Due to the situation with COVID-19 in the conditions of re-transition to a remote mode in some regions, the question is again relevant: how to organize a high quality learning process for children at home? Alas, most children often do not associate the smartphone, computer and related activities with the learning process. Now that many children spend all of their learning and leisure time online, it is clear that they may have trouble concentrating, and they may also be exposed to additional risks. What these risks are and how to avoid them, tell the experts at the Roskatchestvo Digital Expertise Center.

CHILDREN’S GAMING: THE RISKS

The problem of uncontrolled children’s gaming and Internet surfing has long been relevant, because we live in the era of digital acceleration: according to Mediascope in 2018, already at the age of 5-11 years old 93% of children use the Internet, at the age of 5-7 years it is 89%, 8-11 years – 97%. The share of time spent on the Internet is also growing: at the age of 5-7 it’s 39%, and by the age of 8-11 the figure rises to 55%.

What are the dangers and temptations for a bored child, looking for something interesting on the Internet?? In August 2020, the Roskachevo Center for Consumer Behavior Research, together with the company OMI, conducted a sociological survey that surveyed parents of children under the age of 15. According to parents, the main dangers and threats for children on the Internet are content connected with violence and cruelty 90% communication with strangers 89% dangerous groups in social networks 89% information connected with the use of drugs 86% and pornographic content 84% . This is exactly what every parent would like to limit their child from.

There are other risks as well: distracted attention even adults “on a remote basis” sometimes find it difficult to concentrate on a work task, not to mention schoolchildren and an increased risk of spending money on online games and entertainment services. You should agree that we would like our children to be engaged in useful and educational activities, wasting time and money on games and other entertainment online does not belong to those activities.

HOW TO CONTROL A CHILD ON THE INTERNET?

How to control the online activity of the child, so that “do not stand over his soul,” and safely go about their business, not worrying about what the child is doing online. The experts at the Roskatchestvo Center for Digital Expertise tell us:

Teach your child the basic rules of digital literacy don’t open links and messages from strangers in messengers, don’t download torrents, use antivirus, and so on . It is necessary in order to avoid infecting his/her device with malicious programs that can potentially steal personal and payment information including yours if the devices are on the same network at home . A child needs to understand the risks of mindless Internet surfing.

Control the time your child spends on activities outside of school. For example, on social networks or games, entertainment sites. You can set a time limit on how much time a child can spend online, and set a schedule that limits the use of gadgets during school and night hours.

Limit Internet searches on questionable topics. Curiosity, combined with a search engine, can lead your child into such mazes that a young, immature mind should not be exposed to.

Limit the amount a child can spend on in-game purchases or block the ability to make microtransactions without parental approval. A child can make purchases in an online game or subscribe to some paid services without even realizing it and there’s a whole industry of marketers working on such “accidental” users , spending limits or total blocking will help prevent such cases.

“With the almost ubiquitous penetration of high-speed Internet and smartphones, parental control apps are becoming a necessity for parents who want to protect their children from unpleasant, violent or inappropriate information. This is especially acute during the period of distant education due to COVID-19, when children are forced to be ‘distant’ and are left to themselves while parents work,” says Ilya Loevsky, deputy head of Roskachevo. A survey of parental control apps was conducted by Roskachestvo in September.

The apps have two components, one installed on the child’s device preventing it from being deleted and one on the parent’s phone so the parent can monitor their child’s activity in real time. A parent can thus track a child’s spending, find out how much time he spends online, and, most importantly, protect him from harmful content and information that can harm his mental health and development.

“Parents of a young schoolchild need to properly organize his stay in virtual space. For example, you need to monitor the time of use of a particular application, since a 7-10 year old child is not yet able to control the passage of time on his or her own. To organize a young student’s daily routine, a parent can benefit from the “Set Up Usage Scenarios” feature. It is also important for the parent to pay special attention to the child’s safety: for example, if the child walks home from school on his own, the GPS function can be very useful, since it allows parents to see the child’s location,” says Anastasia Shiryaeva, a child psychologist.

A parent should gradually loosen his or her own control and transfer this function to the child, thus encouraging the development of self-control skills. For example, it is possible to give your teenager the possibility to adjust the time of use of certain applications independently.

A child who walks around on his or her own, uncontrolled, online is, alas, at risk today. Everything that can and cannot be imagined is “leaked” onto the Internet, and it really is worth restricting children from some information by unobtrusive “parental control” which protects, but in no case violates the boundaries of the little person.