When Heather Cox was 12 years old, she was being groomed by an online predator, although she didn’t know it at first. “I finally found out the person was an 18-year-old man in Canada,” says the Newark mother of three school-age children. “That was several years ago, and, if you can believe it, I was on an AOL dialup connection.” Today, there are many more ways for a kid’s online safety to be compromised.
Cox is all too aware of these dangers. “I have been a social media manager and consultant for several years, and my husband is in IT security,” she says. “I knew that I wasn’t the only parent concerned about my children’s internet safety, so I decided to spread my knowledge.”
Two years ago, when her children were 8, 10 and 12, Cox published an online book, The Connected Kid: A Parent’s Guide to Safe and Smart Internet Use, and created a website around it.
Here, we chat with Cox about her book and about internet safety for children.
What is online safety for kids all about?
Online safety is the act of protecting your own personal space and your children’s personal space from bullies, stalkers, trolls and scam artists.
The internet changes so quickly – how will readers keep up?
The book is only online, although someone who buys it can download it. And I have been updating it periodically.
When should parents start teaching kids about online safety?
Start as early as they are allowed to go online, but certainly by the time they are five.
How should they approach this so children don’t resist?
Be honest with them about the dangers. You can’t sugarcoat the reality of the internet, social media, and video games.
How does a parent keep up?
It’s a parent’s job to keep up with the technology. For example, I would never let my kids have a video game without trying it first myself.
Does AI – artificial intelligence – pose particular problems?
It does, especially where someone will take a child’s face, for example, and put it on another person body. Never give schools permission to put photos of your children online.
What else?
Social media. I probably won’t let my children have social media accounts until they are 18!
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