It is no secret that the Internet is an ideal power source for criminals seeking to commit crimes of various kinds such as harassment, sexual abuse, cyberbullying and collection of personal data for fraudulent reasons etc. Internet threats are a reality in our environment that we must fight every day to protect the smallest of the house. But how can you do that without knowing the possible threats? Here are a few listed!
What Are The Main Dangers Of Internet Child?
Cyberbullying:
Cyberbullying is synonymous to harassment and it refers to the conduct among children of the same age. Harassment usually begins in the school context, while internet vehicle and digital devices help to encourage it to have a longer range and be another source of persecution. The kid being bullied digitally gets into Depression, anxiety and fear that can lead to extreme steps such as suicide.
Grooming:
In the context of the Internet, the term “grooming” refers to how an adult approaches a child using new technologies to gain their trust and then abuse him for sexual purposes, and to materialize either physically or stockpiled graphic child pornography material for exchange, sale or unlawful disclosure. Grooming can cause confusion in the least, psychological pressure, “sexualization” in kids’ behavior, social withdrawal, severe sexual trauma and physical harm.
Sexting:
Sexting is about the photograph of a sexual nature which is taken in a given context and becomes viral, getting a great social significance that makes the protagonist person in grass teasing other people in their circle, usually their age group. Sometimes revenge sexting originates from “ex – boyfriend” young when the relationship ends.
Theft of information:
The information that moves on the Internet is vulnerable to be used for other purposes than initially thought. Children are most vulnerable to fall into the traps that are laid on the network, which generally seek misappropriation of data that may be used for computer crime, theft or impersonation.
Prevention
It is important to note significant changes in the mood of your kid. Especially if you notice sad or downcast, you should investigate the source of their despondency. With this, you should explain to children the importance of really knowing the people, so they give more value to physical communication which isn’t acquired via the Internet. Not only this, you should also accompany them as they browse the Internet or, at least, be very aware of unusual changes in behavior or mood.
Education is the key hence it is essential to alert the child in the areas of cybercrime, explicitly warning that they should not provide their data or proprietary information to anyone online, since doing so could lead to theft and damage for the whole family.
In addition to that, you can monitor their online activities such as forums they have joined, friends they have etc with the help of parental monitoring apps such as FamilyTime that lets parents monitor:
1. Web Behavior of kids
- Check browsing history with the date and time stamps
- View bookmarks and favorites
- Keep an eye on most visited sites
- Check the call logs
- View contacts with details
- Watchlist suspicious contacts
- Check installed apps
- Check app usage frequency
- Blacklist unwanted apps
2. Device Usage
If, moreover, you observe avoidance behaviors toward school environment, friends or family, you must be alert. In some cases it may be the fight with a friend, but could be a bullying, grooming or sexting too.