Online Internet Safety Tips for Kids #SaferInternetDay #BeInternetAwesome
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of Google and Mom It Forward. Regardless, all opinions are my own.
In a world that has become so connected, is blows my mind to think that little ones born in the last several years won’t know what it is like living before the internet. I remember the days of card catalog searching in the library in school. Times sure have changed and evolved.
When I was a kid, my parents always taught me about “Stranger, Danger”, and I have done the same with mine, but the internet has brought about a new and easier way for potential danger to enter our own homes and our schools.
Most schools nowadays, our included, have transitioned to bookless learning and utilizing laptops and tablets to teach and provide resources. That is why today, more than ever, it is important to teach kids Internet Safety. 
I love that Willow and Jaxon are internet conscience and savvy at such a young age, but they also need to know the importance of staying safe both off and online.
Today is Safer Internet Day (SID) and I am excited to share some helpful tips and bits of information to help other parents educated their little ones on internet safety. Today, parents and educators nationwide are sharing in the slogan, “Together for a better internet“. This is a call to action for all everyong to join together and play their part in creating a better internet for everyone, most particularly, kids.
Be Internet Smart
The internet is like a digital blueprint. Educate and remind your kids that once something by or about anyone is online like a photo, comment, or message, it could stay online forever. Never share personal information like residence, email address, phone number or passwords (so important)!
Be Internet Strong
Protecting your personal information (PII) and identity is important. Choosing strong passwords with several characters (in upper and lower case), numbers and symbols reduces the risk of being hacked. Passwords should be changed often to keep your information secured and fresh.
Be Internet Alert
Never, ever, ever, ever click on an unknown link or link that you are unsure about. You can always right-click and inspect the element for full URL info. Be sure to check email addresses to assure you know where the email came from (does it look legit?). Don’t fall for the scams that so many people click on without hesitation just because it may have come from someone they know. Email addresses can hacked 24/7. Clicking links can lead to compromising of your personal data, malware and other unwanted software on your device.
Be Internet Kind
Teach kids that being kind in and outside of the internet is important. Encourage them that internet courage is not kind and don’t say anything online that they wouldn’t or shouldn’t say offline. Encourage them to let you know when they see something that needs further intervention or help.
Be Internet Brave
Teach your kids that if the see something, say something. Don’t be afraid to speak up and out against online bullying, inappropriate content or asking for help. If it looks to good to be true, it probably is.
Come Together for a Better Internet with your family by using Be Internet Awesome starting with the program’s NEW Family Guide and then encourage your kids to put their skills to the test with Interland at g.co/Interland
- Use BIA’s quick tips for families for Safer Internet Day [WIP doc, will go live on our site for SID and be much more visually appealing – I should have the finalized PDF for you next week]
- Encourage your child’s school to come together for a better internet too by sharing Be Internet Awesome with their teachers
Have a conversation with your kids about how to be safe and smart online on SID and everyday by using the information you learned from Be Internet Awesome!
Important information for parents, childcare providers, grandparents and all those involved in keeping our children safe and thriving.
Kids should not be allowed on the internet without supervising and watching over them and they should have a time limit too
internet safety
I like what you said about teaching kids to be kind; to only say things on the internet that you would also say in person. That’s a very important message to convey.
I like all of these tips. We need to stress safety online to kids.
This is really great info my kids are all grown but it will be useful for my grandkids
This is a very important issue.
My wife teaches the students at her school all about Internet safety. It is part of the library lessons that she teaches. These tips need to be taught to anyone that is new to Internet usage.
#BeInternetAwesome is so important. This is a super article and everyone should be aware of the dangers on the internet.
I don’t have kids, but pretty sure I;d lose my mind worrying about this issue
good article
I didn’t realize there was a Safer Internet Day. It does make sense to have a day to enlighten kids and adults about internet dangers.
I always watch over what my kids are doing on the internet but still it needs to be safer.
Stay Safe
passwords are good
All of this is important for kids to be reminded of all the time.
Parents, and all adults for that matter, need to educate themselves, too. We can’t help kids unless we understand internet safety.
This is such a great article! You should always be involved with what your kids are doing online to keep them safe. It’s such a scary place! Thanks for these tips!
Another good point is Teach your kids that if they see something, say something. Every parent should have a discussion about this.
I think thinking about these things is important… much respect for the families struggling with this stuff…
My granddaughter uses the internet for school projects. She has learned important steps from her parents and her school how to be safe on the internet. It is important to teach all children this.
i have to password protect the computer, and watch what my nephew gets on
Internet safety tips are quite important for children to know.
I hope all parents encourage kids to be kind online. Too many adults see the internet as a place where they can say any hateful thing and not be held responsible. They don’t realize there’s a human being on the other end of that insult.
I have talks about internet safety with my kids all the time. New talk with your info tonight!
Great information for parents with children on the internet to keep safe.
great advice
As children have to do more and more things online, it is good that they learn how to keep safe online.
Kids definitely need to be monitored online, even teenagers. They are kids and might not be able to see the dangers they encounter online.
This is a great article – really prudent tips that I’ll share with my kids.
I do like the tip Be Internet Kind. So important to teach children about not hurting others or saying something offensive.
Good collection of tips for children to be made aware of.
In my opinion, know as much as you can!
Knowledge is power!!
agreed
I ‘m glad that my children didn’t have to worry about this as kids. So much you have to protect kids from these days.
We all need to make sure kids understand they can’t necessarily trust what they see or read online. They definitely can’t trust everyone they ‘meet’ online, and have to inform their parents if anyone tries to ‘approach’ them online.
Thanks for sharing this
Ive always been so involved in what the kids look at on the internet. Sometimes i know i drive them crazy but even i am very careful. There r too many bad people out there and they know all the tricks on how to reel kids even and even many adults. You pointed out some great things. Thank you
It is so important for everyone to know this tip you mentioned: Educate and remind your kids that once something by or about anyone is online like a photo, comment, or message, it could stay online forever.
Those are good tips for everyone, not just kids.
These are awesome tips that we all need to follow. We just can not be to careful when it comes to our children. Once it is on the internet it is there forever and you never know when someone will find fault with something you have said. It blows my mind how dependant we have become on the internet in such a short period of time. We have to protect our children.
These are awesome tips that we all need to follow. We just can not be to careful when it comes to our children. Once it is on the internet it is there forever and you never know when someone will find fault with something you have said. It blows my mind how dependant we have become on the internet in such a short period of time.
Children shouldn’t have to deal with bullying on the internet or offline.
It is a sure that children have to be wary of such things as bullying on the internet.
Very important to have this discussion with your kids. Great tips!
good post
There are plenty of adults who need to be reminded of these tips, too. How many times have we all regretted clicking on a click bait link???
These are great tips. I see so many children whose parents have no rules for their smart phone/internet usage and honestly it horrifies me. It can really be dangerous and edpose kids to things they are not ready for. Also, I love that mermaid tail blanket. lol. so cute.
Thanks for the tips. You can never be too careful with your kids.
Safer Internet Day is a great idea. Adults and children alike need all the education that is age appropriate. Parents need to consistantly monitor their children’s internet actions, even at the cost of making the children unhappy. One slip up could lead to disaster!
I am glad that there is a Safer Internet Day (SID). This is needed to educate everyone.
Internet safety is becoming more and more important, especially since people have to go online to do activities that used to be done with paper and pen.
its good thats theres a parental lock
It’s so important to teach your kids to be internet savvy.
This is all so scary! My neighbor let her 10 year old daughter make her own YouTube channel. She thinks it’s cute. It terrifies me.
I definitely agree. We need to discuss these things with kids because they will run into it online, no matter how you try to supervise their screen time.
When my grandkids come over, they almost always bring their tablets and their. Xbox One with their Fortnite game!
They are worse than my kids were playing Pac-Man or King Kong on Atari! Of course, their beepers kept going off and I always provided them with change so they could call me. Nowadays the world has gotten a lot smaller! That really scares me! We have to watch their backs! Some kids can easily be tacked by smooth talkers!! Especially ones that bribe them with goodies and more! I remember the stranger danger term. I have warned them about him myself! I have looked into some of the Internet apps myself to help safeguard the URLs that they are on. I know my grandkids Love YouTube videos. I have time limits and I do shoo them out of the house when I can. The same goes for their TV times. Right now it is Arctic weather here, but I’ve given them Board games to play with. I pinned your article under Safety Tips, because adults could always use these tips to help keep their loved ones safe! I have also had my grandkids watch the news with me so they can observe what has happened to others and it’s not pretty!! Plus I have always told them to NEVER give out their personal information! No names, phone numbers, addresses, nothing! And to always tell an adult or one of us, if something is/was wrong! Stranger Danger has not gone away!!
I think it is really important to have these conversations with kids about the importance of safety on the internet and ways that they can take precautions.
Great information in this day and age. Ty
I am a g-mom and appreciate internet awareness today for my g-kids. When I was raising kids we didn’t have this as an issue, so I have had to educate myself so I could be ready to monitor for their sakes. Thank you for any updated info. Very informative article.
Such an important topic and great tips.
These photos are really cute. I love the purple mermaid blanket!
This is a good set of tips for parents to share with their children.
have to put parental block on some things
I also think we have to try to help kids learn to protect themselves from internet bullying. We see so many kids who take internet insults to heart. If we can’t stop the bullying, we have to help kids cope with it and not let it effect their self-worth
I think its so important to know what your children are doing online and to be active in keeping them safe online, great topic, this is actually a big deal.
You shared some great tips. Everyone needs to be careful on the web. You don’t want to disclose too much information publicly and it is important to monitor kids activity.
Thanks for the great info. You can’t be too safe with kids and the internet these days.
A lot of these tips could and should be applied by adults too! I have grandchildren and know their parents monitor their little ones closely but there are times they may be at a friend’s house where supervision isn’t as strict and that worries me. Thanks for sharing this!
These are great tips todays world is full of people who really are so bad and the internet has made it so easy to reach out to those of the younger crowd. Do what you can talk to your children so they can be aware of those that might want to do nothing but, harm them.
Great article both kids and parents should be warned when it comes to the internet.
I am a grandma and watch my grandkids often. they are on a phone all the time. I talk to them all the time as well as parents monitor phones weekly as one is autistic.
These are tips everyone needs to follow.
More and more parents need to stay educated about kids on the internet. Got to keep the kiddies safe!
Great tips for sharing with the little ones. You can never be too safe nowadays.
Parents have to be a parent, and not a friend, on these matters. Moniter you child’s accounts and limit cyber time based on age.
Be Internet Smart is such an important tip for adults and children too. I know adults who are not following this tip as of yet.
Its important to teach children early about stranger danger and internet safety
I think it is best to only allow them on certain site that are safe for them and have a parental control that they cannot goto other sites without parents permission.
i try to keep track what my niece does on her phone
I worried about my kids in the days before social media but now it is their children who I hope are being smart and wary of what people tell them.
Great advice for adults. too. Everyone needs to be careful
I definitely think parents need to educate their kids about internet dangers. It probably needs to be done earlier than most adults think, too. Sadly.
This is such an important topic, thanks for posting on it.
It is unfortunate the internet is becoming less of a safe place…It is so important to monitor kids internet usage!
Thank you for sharing these great tips! It’s so important to protect our kids online!
As a grandparent, I haven’t had to deal with this until this past Summer. But, now all of our electronic devices are password protected so that they are limited to where they can go, what they can view and how long they can be there. Their parents do most of the Safety discussion, along with their schools. I just make sure that I am following the same guidelines so they aren’t getting mixed signals. If you don’t already have these things in place… It’s never too early to start if you have a child that will be on that device.
So important to protect kids online. there is too much dangerous stuff out there so need to be vigilent as a parent
Being alert is always important! Thanks for sharing 🙂
You can never be too safe when it comes to your kids and the internet. Great things to think about!
My little girls are super young, but they are figuring out computer and the internet pretty quickly. I made sure that I have the kids version of YouTube on their iPad, so that they don’t look at anything they shouldn’t. We also have constant conversations of various dangers that might be out there.
This is a terrific article that everyone should read about Online Internet Safety Tips for Kids. All kids should be taught these tips.
Thanks for all the info. I worry about my kids on the internet.
This is a great post. Thank you for the fantastic tips!
This is usefull information for parents to share with their children.
Thanks for sharing helpful tips to help our family as we surf the internet. Great read!
Good read with some very good tips, both for parents and kids. Thanks
We have to check all the time on our kids while they are online.Thanks for the information.
These are great tips!
This is a great post. The internet is full of predators and you can never be too careful with your kids.
These are great tips! The internet can definitely be a very scary place. My kids are still young but I am already worried about it and will do whatever it takes to keep them safe. Thanks for sharing!
As a grandparent, internet use and safety for my grandkids is so important. Thanks for these helpful guidelines.
That for these safety tips for kids. There are unfortunately a lot of bad people out there online.
It really is mind boggling what kids can encounter online. Any way we can make it safer for them, we need to do it.
Ugh… Kids & internet. It’s a tricky situation. Kids probably shouldn’t be allowed on the internet without an adult supervising close by. I don’t have kids, so I can’t really say a whole lot on the subject. Other than i remember when I was a kid… I was always smart about the internet. Didn’t get into the things that I shouldn’t. Things have changed since the 90’s. LOL. I think being internet smart is very important… regardless of your age.