Should We Be Protecting Our Children Online?

What do chocolate cake, exercise and the Internet all have in common? Yes, too much of a good thing can cause problems, and as a business deeply interested in connecting people, we are particularly concerned about what our children get up to online.

How do we keep our children safe in a virtual world that we don’t always understand fully? Is there really reason for concern?

Children Online – What’s the Problem?

Detective Richard Wistocki, a former detective in Chicago, U.S.A with 20 years under his belt gave some – frankly – frightening insight in his 2017 TED talk, “Why you should be spying on your kids.”

He says in part, “Giving a kid this “ominous device” — and allowing them to have it any time, including charging in their rooms at night — is like handing over the keys to a new Mercedes and saying, “Sweetheart you can go to Vegas. You can drive to Texas, Florida, New York, wherever you want to go.”

Most parents would be, at best, alarmed at their children’s online activity which can include “sexting”, bullying, threatening, vicious and shocking language, or engaging with complete strangers.

It’s a difficult time, especially for parents of teenagers who desperately want to walk the fine line between allowing their young adult the time and space to grow and establish their independence, and the desire to protect them from a very scary online world.

Is it really that bad? What’s the worst that can happen?

Two 12-year olds were arrested in Florida recently for cyberbullying a classmate who finally committed suicide. A 16-year old boy killed himself after an intimate recording of him with a classmate went public.

Yes, these are worst-case scenarios, but the lead up to these tragic events are incredibly challenging for a young person to have to deal with – and are largely preventable.

How Can We Keep Our Children Safe Online?

We are in the business of connecting people in a virtual world, and we are acutely aware of the incredible tech that people use every day to grow their business, reach a global audience, or manage their customers’ expectations. We are also brutally aware of the threats that abound in the form of hacking, identity theft, fraud, scams, and malicious activities.

There’s no doubt about it; we need to pull out all the stops to keep our children safe online.

As much as we like to think that our relationship with our child is solid and we can trust them, the reality can be quite different. Just as we have a responsibility to make sure that they do their homework (even when they don’t want to), eat a healthy diet (again…) we need to make some unpopular calls to keep them out of danger.

Thankfully, there’s an app for that.

mSpy

mSpy is one of the leading parental control apps available and allows you to monitor most major communication channels such as WhatsApp, Snapchat, Facebook and more. In addition, parents can monitor calls and SMS as well as employing a GPS tracking service which monitors their whereabouts.

Admittedly, your child may not have an online alter ego that you need to be concerned about. However, if they are the victim of threats or bullying, or they are in any sort of danger, you have the ability to react quickly having all the information that you need.

Mobicip

Younger children may not be as tech-savvy as their teenage siblings, but they should still enjoy a measure of protection. Mobicip helps parents to manage screen time, manage apps, block websites and supervise videos. It also comes with a location tracker which, we feel, is a must-have in today’s world.

Thankfully, there are a number of apps available for parents to monitor and manage their children’s online activity. We recommend running a search and doing a little homework on the subject to find what suits you and your family best.

The Huge Commitment to Your Safety

While we may not be able to monitor your child’s online actions, we are committed to ensuring the safety and security of our customer’s connectivity. Our managed services give you absolute peace of mind when it comes to attempted breaches of your systems, access to your valuable data, and preventing viruses or other malware.

Contact the Huge team for more information – let’s connect.