More and more of our children are learning about the internet at a young age. Common Sense Media’s recently release study Zero to Eight: Children’s Media Use in America reports that 53% of 2-4 year olds have used computers, and a whopping 46% of 5-8 year olds using a computer more than once a week. This underscores the importance of teaching young children how to behave online.

Digital Kids in the News

It’s obvious from these numbers that our young children have become part of the digital world. School boards are evaluating how to develop new curricula in light of reports of severe ‘cyberbullying’ that are appearing in the news weekly. So what’s the best course of action for parents?

Starting Younger

We see plenty of new technology gadgets geared towards kids. The iTunes’ App Store returns thousands of results for kids’ apps, and tablets made especially for toddlers are being released. With children as young as two regularly using mobile technologies, parents need to emphasize online safety and responsibility as early as possible.

Developing open communication and sharing online experiences with your toddler is a great way to help them learn safe online habits from an early age, and helps them develop trust that they can come to you about anything they see or experience online. Most kids at this age need help manoeuvring from site to site, so it is a great time to lay down some basic rules.

Connecting Consequences

As kids get older, more social factors become more important when going online. Kids are using IM, webcams, Youtube and even social networks before middle school. But many of them do not connect what they say or do to consequences in real life, or they consider it “just a joke”. An easy way to explain ‘being a good digital citizen’ to your kids is to ask them to always compare what they are doing online to “real life” and establish that you shouldn’t do anything online that you wouldn’t do in person.

Tips

Here are some of the basic tips to share with your kids when they start to go online:

• Never share personal details (like your name, address, or phone number).
• Be polite and respectful. Don’t say anything online that you wouldn’t say in real life.
• Never meet in person with people that you’ve met online

Share your experiences and tips by posting a comment below.

For more information about online safety for your kids, check out these resources:

Media Literacy Week Resources

Common Sense Media’s: Internet Safety for Elementary School Kids