Do You Know What Your Kids Are Doing Online?

The biggest thing parents should remember is not to be intimidated, even if they aren’t as tech-savvy as their kids. (Patch file photo)

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Now that students integrate technology in their daily lives, it’s more important than ever that parents keep tabs on their kids’ activities.

Below are some tips from AT&T that will help parents support their children’s use of technology safely and responsibly.

1. Get tech savvy. Talk to your children about what sites they’re visiting on the Internet and what kind of social media they are participating in. You should even experiment with them yourself. This will give you a better feel in evaluating the risks and potential abuses. Friend them or follow them.
2. Check privacy settings on social media, but emphasize there is no privacy. The more private, the less likely inappropriate material will be received by your child, or sent to their circle of acquaintances. But make sure your child understands that everything sent over the Internet or smartphone is public and can be shared with the entire world, so it is important that they use good judgment in sending messages and pictures and sharing on social media.
3. Set rules for texting. Only allow texting at specific times – no texting at school, no texting until homework’s done, and no texting after certain hours at night. Tell your child you have the right to monitor the texts that are sent and received.
4. Research what your carrier offers that can help. For example, Smart Limits allows parents to block unwanted calls and texts from up to 30 numbers, set monthly limits on texts and mobile purchases and restrict texting, data usage and outbound calling during specified times of day.
5. Set boundaries. A parent’s responsibility in overseeing technology use is not much different than in other areas of daily Set clear boundaries on appropriate and inappropriate uses of technology. Makes sure these rules and consequences of breaking them are clear. And monitor use to make sure they are following the rules.

Above all, don’t be intimidated. Even if you’re less savvy about technology than your children, you have the tools to make your job simpler in an even more complicated world.