How much do you know about tech and your kid’s education? You might be surprised by some of the common myths and misconceptions that many parents have.
Tech has become a vital part of every kid’s learning experience, especially since the pandemic. But as parents, you didn’t grow up with tech the way that your kids are now, so you might not be aware of some of the best practices and tips to help them succeed.
That’s why I’m here to share with you some of the most important things you need to know about tech to make sure your kid’s school year kicks off right.
Myth #1 – Using parental controls will break your child’s trust
One big thing that parents often worry about is losing their child’s trust because they feel like their privacy has been invaded.
Kids want to feel like they’re being independent. However, we can’t allow them to have too much freedom online because their curious minds could lead them to trouble.
- By explaining the reasons and benefits of using parental controls, you can show your children that you care about their well-being and safety.
- By involving your kids in setting up and adjusting the parental controls, you can respect your children’s opinions and preferences.
- By having regular conversations about their online experiences, you can encourage your kids to share their thoughts and feelings with you.
The more open communication you have about online use, the more your child will feel that they can trust you and that you trust them.
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Myth #2 – Parental controls will protect your child from adult content
Parental controls will certainly help to reduce the amount of adult content that your child is exposed to. However, you don’t want to rely fully on these features to keep adult content away all the time.
Certain websites and apps will be blocked automatically, yet there might be some platforms out there that the features don’t deem inappropriate for kids that may not sit right with you.
Take a close look at what websites and apps are available to your child with parental controls turned on. If there are any that come to mind for you that are not covered, or if you catch your child exploring a platform that you don’t approve of later on, take the necessary steps to add that platform to the list of restricted places your child can visit online.
Myth #3 – Your child is too smart to make mistakes online
This can tie into my previous tip; however, it’s worth reiterating that you can raise your child to be responsible and know boundaries, and they can still make mistakes online.
Kids can and will be exposed to a plethora of things online, and if you’re not monitoring them accordingly, they could end up in dangerous situations such as speaking to strangers who they think are friends or making inappropriate posts online just because their friends are doing it.
Myth #4 -A private social media account is enough to protect your child online
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Strangers can always pose as a friend of your child and request to follow them, and your child could certainly fall for that trick and accept the request. They could begin speaking with an adult stranger whom they’re convinced is their friend, which could lead to extremely dangerous circumstances.
Make sure you’re always checking the profiles of those your child is following and that they’re not messaging any random people.
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Private accounts also don’t have child locks on them, meaning that your child could easily go into the settings of their account and change their profile from public to private. Make sure that they are remaining private.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to create a profile on whatever platform they’re using and monitor their posts that way too.
Myth #5 – Once my parental controls are set, I can forget about them
Although you don’t have to be checking on your child 24/7, it’s also a bad idea to completely trust the parental controls to do the job for you.
Kids can find their way around parental controls, or they can even malfunction. Technology malfunctions all the time, so to put 100% of your trust in these features would be a big mistake.
If you want to give your child a sense of freedom without feeling like you need to check on them all the time, maybe just take a look at what they’re doing a few times a week. It doesn’t have to be every hour or even every day; however, it should be enough for you to check in on them and catch if something is off.
Myth #6 – A flip phone is a safer option for your child than a smartphone
Flip phones are great if you want your child to just have a safe and simple way of having your child call or text you. However, many flip phones nowadays will still have internet browsers.
Because flip phones have a much simpler build than regular smartphones, it’s virtually impossible for parents to have parental controls on the phone and to be able to monitor their child’s internet activity.
If you can find a flip phone that doesn’t have internet access, feel free to allow your child to use one. If you can’t find one like that, then I suggest getting your child this smartphone so that you can monitor their activity and keep them safe:
Bark Phone for Kids reviewed
The Bark Phone is a fully customizable Samsung Android smartphone that monitors texts, apps, social media, web searches, has GPS location tracking, removes app downloads, allows you to set screen time limits, manage calls, and remotely lock – parents/caregivers receive alerts for dangers or concerning behaviors on a separate dashboard.
Bark Phone comes with unlimited talk and text starting at $49/month – with no contract required. And it also comes with a subscription to the Bark app for the entire family which is great for kids who don’t have phones yet, or to monitor other devices in your home.
If your child already has a phone and you still want to use Bark, you can get Bark’s Premium software for just $14 per month. The software gives you tons of capabilities, including monitoring texts, email, YouTube, and 30+ apps and platforms, receiving parental monitoring alerts for issues like cyberbullying, online predators, suicidal ideation, and more, and getting insights into your child’s digital activities.
Myth #7 – Parental controls are foolproof and can’t be hacked by kids
Kids are much more tech-savvy than you think, especially since many of them were exposed to technology from the time they were babies. You might have parental controls set up on all your child’s devices; however, you have to know the weak spots of those controls as well for them to be fully effective.
Some of the ways that kids can work around your parental controls include using a private browser, hiding apps they’re not supposed to download, connecting to the hotspot of another device in the house, and more.
Make sure you do a deep dive on this, and do your best to have honest conversations with your children about online access so that they don’t feel the need to do things behind your back.
What else can I do to monitor my child’s use of technology?
If you feel like you want to do more than simply have parental controls set up on your child’s devices, there are monitoring programs out there that will help to further protect your child’s safety online.
Child monitoring programs can help keep track of things like screen time, location monitoring, block access to certain apps, and more.
How safe is your child or grandchild? See the 2023 best child monitoring services reviewed.
ould kids have technology incorporated into their education? Does it frustrate you that schools are using it more and more? Let us know by commenting below.
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