53. Keep your family safe online

How every busy you as parents, follow these steps to help keep your family safe online.

Talk with your family about online safety. Be clear about your family’s rules of using technology, and consequences for inappropriate use. Make sure they feel comfortable to ask for guidance.

Using internet and technology together is a good way to teach online safety

Discuss online services and sites you visits. Agree upon what is appropriate for each family member.

Protect passwords. Help your family learn how to set secure passwords online.

Dont share your password with children.

Remind your family not to give out their passwords.

Make sure they make a habit of signing out of their online accounts.

Use privacy settings and sharing controls.

There are many sites for sharing thoughts, photos, videos, status updates and more. Many of these services offer privacy settings and controls that help you decide who can see your content before you post it.

Talk with your family about what they should and shouldn’t share publicly.

Help them respect the privacy of others by keeping the personal details about family or friends private, and by not identifying people by name in publicly shared content.

Oline services - including Google - have age limits restricting who can use their services.

Google accounts are restricted to users 18 and older. Always check a website’s terms of use before allowing your child to sign up for an account.

Teach your family to communicate responsibly. Here’s a good rule of thumb: if you wouldn’t say it to someone’s face, don’t text it, email it, instant-message it, or post it as a comment on someone’s page. Talk about how what you say online might make other people feel

Protect your computer and identity. Use antivirus software and update it regularly

Inform your family personal information – like a ID number, phone number or home address for public view.

Keep it going. Staying safe isn’t a one-time thing—technology evolves, and so will the needs of your family. Make sure you keep up an ongoing dialogue. Re-establish your family’s ground rules, check in on everyone’s progress, and set aside time to talk at regular intervals.