With the rise of the internet, both the good and the bad has been on the rise as well. One of the biggest problems is that of pedophiles and child predators.
These attackers know that it’s easy to manipulate, influence and groom innocent minors and hence prey upon them.
On the flip side, your kids tend not to always listen to you or just do what attracts them. They also don’t have enough intelligence to be able to judge between right and wrong.
If you’ve got a kid, this article is just for you.
Table of Contents
- How to protect your child from online predators
- Parental Controls on apps and devices
- Have a direct discussion
- Mention “parent” IDs on social media
- Switch to “Kid” version of the internet
- Enable “Supervision” on IG and set time limits for other apps
- Make a fake account, talk to your kid!
- Final words- How to Protect Your Child From Online Predators
How to protect your child from online predators
Here are a few of the easiest ways to protect your kid from child predators online.
Parental Controls on apps and devices
Whatever device your kid uses must have parental controls. Most devices offer various forms of control options. If they don’t, you can use something like Eyezy or mSpy to even access devices connected to my router remotely!
These apps let you:
- Monitor each keyword typed
- Every screen viewed by your kid
- Block apps remotely
- Monitor all social media accounts and messages
- Track location at all times
- Set geofences so you know when the device enters/leaves certain areas.
- And a lot more.
Yes, these are available on both Android and iOS.
Have a direct discussion
Instead of hints or falling for the taboo, discuss openly the things your kids should and shouldn’t do. Make them aware of the risks involved. Expose them to news articles and more “factual” data rather than stories.
If your kid is too young, or below 10 years of age, make sure you mention “parent IDs” in their bio/introductions. You may also enter something like -”ID managed/run by parents”.
This lets predators know that whatever they send will go through adult moderation and your kid can keep using social media without hurdles.
Switch to “Kid” version of the internet
Did you know there’s a Youtube for Kids? You can download Youtube for Kids here. Similarly, for Google and most other apps you can enable “Safe search”. This keeps them off content they shouldn’t be seeing.
Enable “Supervision” on IG and set time limits for other apps
Instagram has this “Supervision” feature. Your teen can request your account to be their supervisor. This gives you insights into the account’s activities (without breaching the teen’s privacy) such as how much time they’re spending, giving you the ability to manage time limits etc.
For most other apps, you can set time limits on Android and iOS devices directly.
Make a fake account, talk to your kid!
Okay, this is a bit hardcore but one of the best ways to keep your kid safe online. Make a fake account and talk to your kid. Talk about anything and everything that a child predator may talk about. See how your kid responds. Based on their responses, you can teach them or take further actions. Also, once your work is done let your kid know you’ve done this. This will make them apprehensive of other child predators as they may think it’s you again! Oh, definitely do it a second time so they’ll never trust someone a third-time.
Final words- How to Protect Your Child From Online Predators
That’s about it! In my opinion, using a parental control and monitoring app is the best way to go about it. However, using any of the other options I’ve listed here should work equally well. Doing most of these things is free as well and being honest, will actually help you understand your kid better.
Do note that “no internet” is never an option. You’ll raise a dumb child. Hence, do let them use the internet while teaching them how to do so safely at the same time.
