Cyber Safety
It was great to see a number of Gillispie parents at this month’s Cyber Safety seminar held at the Bishop’s School. The presenter shared some concerning issues surrounding the increase in online predators lurking in some of the more popular gaming, social media, and online forums as well as research describing the dangers of social media on children’s well-being.
Reaffirming many of our own Gillispie digital citizenship practices, she described a number of ways to keep children safe when they go online:
- Remind your children to never share personal information
- Tell them to immediately let you know if they see something that makes them uncomfortable
- Inform them to play and communicate with only friends and family they know
- Allow your children to go to sites or apps you have determined to be safe (See Common Sense Media Parent’s Guide)
- Remind them that anything they post online is there forever
- Charge and store all devices in a common area, such as the kitchen
- Keep devices out of reach during bedtime
- Enjoy device-free dinners (parents too!)
- Balance time on tech – it shouldn’t replace opportunities for unplugged and outdoor play
She also suggested that parents consider using parental controls on devices, such as those that can be found in device settings, Google Safe Search, Youtube Restricted Mode and Bark. Importantly, the best ways to keep children safe when they go online is to be their role model to keep lines of communication open.
You can also refer to our own Gillispie Parent Tech Tips for more information. Coming later this spring, we will host our own Gillispie Parent Check-in to discuss our children’s digital lives.
Lisa Hasler Waters, PhD, Director of Technology
