Keeping your children safe from harmful online content

Irene Akoth, a mother of two teens has raised her children by teaching them the pros and cons of digital freedom.

The 32-year-old says it was not easy raising her kids in an environment full of technology gadgets and content.

“I had to sit my children down and tell them about parental controls. I introduced it when they were around seven years old,” she says.

“I realised they were not just watching famous TV Cartoons but also snooping other contents that were above them. I had to invest in parental control and install it on my TV. I also did the same with my phone.”

Just like Ms Akoth, parents face a big challenge: Weighing the pros and cons of giving their children digital freedom and defining the boundaries of that freedom.

Most parents understand that limiting children’s access to the internet could affect their ability to learn and develop. But this also means exposing children to online threats and content that may go beyond their capacity to handle.

Thanks to their ignorance, children can disclose private data of their parents to criminal elements and predators roaming cyberspace. Children may also unwittingly expose their families to internet threats, for example, by accidentally downloading malware that could give cybercriminals access to the family’s sensitive information.

This is precisely what happened to Cornelius Ikoo, a father of three. His daughter gave out his details to a stranger online who later hacked his account.

“I warn parents to be very careful and watchful because your child can put your personal information at risk. Train your child about online fraudsters,” notes Mr Ikoo.

Cyber security experts say protecting children on the internet is a matter of awareness; knowing what dangers lurk and how to safeguard against them. Parental controls allow you to manage what your kids find on search engines

To tackle all these threats and fears, Kaspersky, a global cyber security and digital company advises parents to install robust security software that has parental controls on all devices that can help them monitor their children both online and on television.

There are several hardware solutions that a parent can get to help them block unwanted web content, limit screen time, restrict the use of risky applications and access of unwanted materials both on television and online platforms.

Parents are also advised to explain to young people the consequences of cyberbullying, owning and distributing pornographic material, and unethical hacking.

“Let them also know that there are laws that protect victims of such crimes,” says Kaspersky.

Devices such as Kaspersky Safe Kids, Qustodio, Mobicip, Circle Home Plus, Locategy and Norton Family help you monitor your child.

Parents or guardians should also consider investing in a good security suite and apps that can help you monitor emails, social media profiles, texts, and other mobile functions.

These help when you’re especially concerned about problematic conversations or activities. For example, some apps notify you when it detects certain words such as “drugs.”

It is best if you let your kids know when you are monitoring their devices, especially since you'll need your kid’s account information, including passwords, for some of the features.

Parental controls can block certain features of games your kids can access, let you set up user profiles where your kids can only access certain features or allow you to monitor what they're doing while using the game, allow you to track your kids’ location, help establish good cyber safety habits and also help defend online reputation.