4 Steps to Achieve Digital Safety

How can homeschoolers learn about online safety and screen boundaries? Homeschooling parents must teach these skills to their children. How do we do this? I have suggested a few tips to achieve digital safety. We must protect our kids, and we must teach our children how to protect themselves.

• Have open conversations. 
• Set screen time limits. 
• Learn that the block button is okay.
• Report and discuss online bullies or predators.

Honesty is the Best Policy

Start with open conversations if they are mature enough. These conversations can open children up and create a safety net at home. These days, we need to have discussions with our children. We need to discuss the topics of online stalking and cyberbullying. Using a phone comes with great responsibility, and we must teach our children how to steward it wisely. So, discuss these topics with your kids. Ask them if they have felt threatened online. Talk about what boundaries they would like to set. 

Continuing, set screen time limits. Overuse of phones and screen time impacts children’s cognitive abilities. Therefore, set a screen time limit. Discuss it with your kids. Do they want to use their phones only on the weekends? Do you, as a family, want to use it for an hour per day? Discuss this and come up with boundaries that best suit your family.

Next, tell your kids that it’s okay to use the block button. If someone is threatening, scaring, or making them feel uncomfortable, they can block them. If they don’t like another person’s content and need to protect themselves, they can simply unfollow that person as well. 

Lastly, encourage your children to tell you about online predators or bullies. Tell them to be honest with you. Again, it’s SO important to have open conversations and be forthright with each other when dealing with online struggles. If they are receiving DMs from someone who makes them feel small or uncomfortable, encourage them to tell you. 

Conclusion

When it comes to digital use/social media interaction, honesty is the best policy. Openly discuss these conversations with your children and frame your language around their age level/maturity. Some children may be scared of talking about online predators, so discuss as you feel best. Remember that you are the parent and you need to prepare and protect your children. 

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- NxtEra

Written by Bethany (@thebookwormgirl_bethany)