Although the internet can be a great place to learn, connect, and meet people from all over the world, it is important to help our teens navigate it to understand that the people they interact with online may be very different than who they say. How can we know that what people say is true on the internet? And help our teens navigate that?
- Remind your teens to never give out personal or identifying information to people they don’t know, especially if someone is persistent.
- Set reasonable boundaries around the internet with your teen’s input, and help them develop critical thinking skills around using the internet.
- Remind your teens to always be careful about things they say or pictures they post, because no one ever really knows who is on the other end.
- Remind your teen to never give out their passwords.
- With your teen try to “google” yourself to see what comes up. Is there any identifiable information tied to either of your names. For example, where your child goes to school, where they live or their phone number? If so and it doesn’t seem right, you may need to contact the owner or manager of the site to take it down.
How do you help your teen navigate the internet? The above clip is funny, but do you see some truth in it? Let us know in the comments!