I wrote a book About online safety to help parents with their kids

This as-to-told-to essay is bassed on a conversation with CATHY PEDRAYSAuthor of “The Mom Friend Guide to Everyday Safety and Security“It has been edited for Length and Clarity.

I’ve always been very interest in safety. I have a bit of a strange background, Including being an environmental scientist who did insections and A QVC host. These days, i’m a tiktok influencere with more than 2 million followers. I Post About All Sorts of Safety, Including Digital Security.

Mythical Kids Are Too Young for Social Media -They’re Only 2 and 3. But of have a 20 -ear-op sister and teenage nieces, and i’ve always been their go-to adult it coma to online life. I’m 36, but i spend a ton of time online. I Undersand Safety From A Patent Perspective and Also A person a persons the apps that many teens love.

PARENTS OFTEN MISTAKES WHEN IT COMES TO ONLINE SECURITY and talking with teens. Here’s how to avoid common pitfalls and really kep your Kids Safe Online.

Ditch The Fear

A HUGE part of my Job is Combating Fear. The Internet can be scary, but approaching it from a place of fear isn’t useful. When People Act Out of Fear, They Try to Control Things. That’s not really Helpful Online, Because You’re Never Going to Be Able to Completely Control Your Kids’ Actions.

Pushing Aside Fear is Easier Said than Done. I like to focus on someone mantras: we are a community, and Most People are good. There are Simple Things you can do every day to keep your children Safer online. Yes, there are scary headlines, but you can mitigate the risk.

KEEP Online Safety Simple

Instead of Being Fearful, Empower Your and Your Teen With These Two Super Simple Actions:

First, first Update Your Apps Regularly. This Reduces Your Expides to vulnerability with the app. Second, use the best practices for passwords. Have Unique Passwords, USSE Two-Factor Authentication, and Consider Getting A Password Manager.

Doing these two simples cans can eliminate Most online risk. Safety doesn’t have to be complicated!

Set Up Child Accounts

Too Often, Parents Set up a Device with their Own Information (Birthday and Email). That Might Give You Easy Access, But it Also bypass All of the Built-in Protections that Child Automatically Have Accounts. Whether You’re Setting Up A Tablet or Social Media Account, IT’S BEST to use your child’s actual, which will engage the safety features they’re’re meant to have.

DON’T RELY TOO HEAVILY ON PARENTAL CONTROLS

PARENTAL CONTROLS ARE A GREAT TOOL, AND I ENCOUrage Everyone to use. Howver, Like Any Tool, They’re imperfect. If you have your parental controls Perfectly dialed in, you still need to active and talc about your Kids’ Digital Activities.

USSE OPEN-Ended Questions

The online landscape is Changing Constantly – Mos Recently With the Introduction of AI. Teaching Kids to be skeptical of Content They See Online is Really Important Today. If you stable acroS an he post, show it to your child. KAS say how they can tel it’s fake, and Share How You Noticed.

Questions like these will help you get a better idea of ​​your Kids’ Online Experience. KAS I say, “What did you see that you were great? What did you see was a little weird?”

Don’t Expect Perfection

PARENTS WANT TO MAKE SURE THERE No WAY THAT THEIR CHILD WILL MAKE A MISTAKE ONLINE. As a mom, get that, but it’s just just realistic. Kids are going to make mistakes.

Make It Goal to Help Your Kids Manage Their Own Online Lives, Rather than Controlling. Occossionally, that Will Include Managing Mistakes, but if you have good safety measures, open dialogue, and regular check-ins, the consequences should be too.