With 4 children in the family, ranging in age from 15 down to 3, and a steadily increasing supply of technology through the door, keeping on top of keeping children safe online is tough. Being asked to review the information on Internet Matters turned out to be extremely useful and informative, and no matter how clued up you think you are, it’s always good to take another look at things.
As a blogger and avid user of a variety of social media, I can sometimes forget that I don’t know it all, and lose sight of new technologies and networks that I don’t use. There’s a wealth of information on the Internet Matters site, and it gave rise to some interesting conversations with Small. (I’ve made notes so that I can chat with Big when she’s back from the 1920s 😉 )
With Small, his main interest rather than social networking, is gaming. He has a DS, and plays online games on the laptop and PC – mainly minecraft, although there have been a variety of other web based games he’s used in the past. We’ve had occasional issues, mainly when other people aren’t playing the way he likes to play, and while sometimes he’s been very upset by online interactions, it’s never been more than a transitory thing.
The younger children haven’t quite got into online gaming yet. Smallest does play minecraft, but networked with Small, rather than out to the wider world. I know that it’s just a matter of time before she wants to spread her wings though, and keeping an eye on what sites she’s interested in is made easier by the fact that she plays on a desktop with the screen visible in the living room, so I can peep over her shoulder at any point. Once she’s reading fluently and independently things are likely to get more complicated, and having older children who game makes her want to do more than they wanted to do at her age. (Nearly 10 years ago for Big, there weren’t the range of sites available. It’s slightly bewildering realising how fast the digital landscape is changing.)
The thing that worries me most for Big is the online reputation thing. This is all about how your profile online builds up, not just from what you post, but from what other people post too. We talk frequently about how nothing really disappears – even a system like Snapchat where the shared images delete is vulnerable to people taking screenshots or simple pictures of what is going on. You can’t say often enough that nothing is ever completely erased. The biggest problem though to my mind isn’t necessarily what your own children are saying, but what is being said about them, and that’s a difficult thing to do anything about.
The main thing to my mind is to try to keep talking to your children about all of these issues, and using the guides on this site might help you to be able to do that. Why not take a look and see what you think?
Disclosure: this is a sponsored post.
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