Millions of cyberattacks are reported in the world annually. So is the case in the region where children exposed to online activities are highly vulnerable to such constant threats.
With billions of Rials lost due to cyberattacks and valuable data stolen, the situation demands sustainable actions to curb such activities. Cyber experts advocate alertness at home and call upon parents to save children against cyberattacks.
A little alertness can save children from cyberbullying or other crimes due to vulnerability. “For me, educating families should be the first step towards a safe virtual world. The policy of ‘none is safe until everyone is safe’ is highly applicable in this case,” says Tariq al Barwani, Oman’s IT expert. He further says that educating parents of children aged five and above is of prime importance. That can provide significant benefits for families.
Kaspersky, a leading cybersecurity and digital privacy company, in its recent report, has identified seven digital practices that parents can teach their children to create a safe cyber world. It says that everyone needs to have specific skills to survive in today’s Internet world.
The report, which combined many experts’ opinions, recommended building seven habits for parents to help their children adjust to the Internet:
1) Parents need to create a device-free time zone. When children use technology for a long time, they can become addicted. According to experts, this addiction can cause sleep problems, mood swings, weight gain, poor self-image and body image problems. They further say that children’s screen time can gradually increase with their daily requirement of time in the online world.
2) Take control of the charger. Although technology develops in the wink of an eye, today’s devices still run out of power quickly, and it is advised to have kids leave their devices outside of the bedroom. So the device’s battery is always charged in the morning, and the kids won’t be able to watch videos or follow inappropriate channel trends before going to bed.
3) Pay attention to information security and similar issues. When children step into the virtual world, they are exposed to many dangers on the Internet and in real life. Start by telling them not to look at their phones while crossing the street or going up and down the stairs.
4) Educate them about online security, Internet threats such as fraud, personal data theft, viruses and much more. Tell your kids not to visit suspicious websites (and what that means), not enter passwords or any personal information on those sites, open weird-looking links, or download apps from anywhere but official app stores.
5) They should be taught netiquettes. They should be taught that following a particular set of etiquette in the virtual world is a part of unspoken rules, just like in the real world. While people often master these things simply by communicating online, children need help avoiding awkward situations. Parents should talk to them about some expectations before going online.
6. Teach them to organise information. It’s believed that a regular phone or computer reflects an organised mind. A messy locker may not affect the child’s life, but losing passwords or files or forgetting phone numbers can be a problem. Children need to learn to organise information from an early age.
7. A digital detox programme should be scheduled from time to time at a time when digital technology is entering almost every aspect of children’s lives, and it has become nearly impossible to avoid information overload. Hence, our children need to be able to take a step back and make the Internet a less important part of their lives, first with your help, then on their own.
“I’m pretty sure all these steps are not easy to implement, but with persistence, nothing is impossible. As we see, adults around us will sooner or later acquire cyber skills as new technologies emerge on a daily basis. Today’s children are almost born with a smartphone in their hands. So parents need to be engaging themselves in constantly educating their children about these safe cyber practices,” said Al Barwani.
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