You’re teaching your kids to be cyber savvy, but are you teaching them to be cyber secure?

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Practically everyone I know has a Smartphone or tablet! From primary school kids, parents to grandmothers, the mobile phone is seen in every household in Singapore. Together with the Internet and Social Media available on our mobile devices, there are new concerns for the parents of today. (Do scroll to the end, and find out how readers can win family Megazip tickets and more, as they participate in this post)

According to a recent survey by the Straits Times, 76% of parents in Singapore are worried about kids’ safety online but only 66% are doing something about it. Another statistic shows that 93 %of parents feel that their child is at least somewhat safe when he or she is online, but s the Internet really that safe? Or do parents need to be more careful, when we let these mobile devices “babysit” our children?

As parents, we must start realizing that the Internet can be an untamed jungle and that while our kids are growing up as digital citizens, their cyber-savviness does not necessarily equate to their cyber security. To make it safe, we will need to build guidelines and restrictions, to make it age-appropriate for our young adventurers. After all, even adults are susceptible to identity thefts and money scams, where thousands of dollars are transferred to inheritance and lottery scams. Moreover, with the added risk of personal information being stolen via public wifi, cyber crime can happen in so many varied forms.

With all these concerns, I would like to be able to say that I have banned technology from my home! However, such thoughts are not viable, when technology is very much part of our lives. Instead, I have made simple adjustments to my everyday life, so as to lessen the impact of technology on my school-going kids.

Here are some simple tips:

Mobiles, Tablets and Televisions are not Nannies!

As busy parents, we can barely find time for ourselves in the midst of our schedules. Out of convenience, we turn to technology to babysit our children and even our spouses. However, nothing can replace the love, patience and care that parents provide. Kids want us to speak into their lives, and an over-reliance on technology will remove this essential developmental ingredient that every parent provides. We need to “be involved”, when we want to raise the next generation.

Password Protect your Media Devices:

Besides the tablet, the Television is a media device that captivates our children. Just like the smartphone, our kids love the world which they are transported to, when they engage with technology.

At home, I password protect my television set, as well as my mobile devices. This is to ensure that there is adult supervision and controlled amounts of “face time” for these young minds. Young minds need to be nurtured with a balanced diet.

Together with the threat of identity theft, I also educate my children on the need of a strong secure password whenever we set-up an account. Incorporating symbols and numbers in a password combination is always an important lesson in a cyber-reliant society.

Age Appropriate Parenting

First off, we need to ask ourselves the question, do we really need to deal with the issue of mobile devices when our kids are in Preschool? Most preschool kids are dependent on their parents for everything. From travelling to point A to B, to food and social activities, they are always by our sides. Do they really need a phone?

Secondly, if they need a phone, do they really need a Smart Phone? Young minds may pick up technology easily, but maturity does not come overnight. Children need time to understand the world and time to discern between good and bad. Exposure to the real world should be age appropriate and incrementally added to their diet. Should we expose them to the dangers of social media, when they are still deciding on the existence of the Tooth Fairy?

Technology is a Pandora’s box, which offers advantages and disadvantages. Age Appropriate parenting considers these harmful effects, and exposes them to our children incrementally.

Internet Filters and Parental Controls

When kids need to use the computer for school or recreational purposes, Internet Filters decrease the chances of kids stumbling onto unwanted pornographic, violent and racist sites. With Parental Controls, we can limit the time that children spend on the Internet and allow a “safe search” facility when kids use the Internet.

As a parent, I also teach my children the importance of being Socially Vigilant. Personal information should not be posted nor submitted to unfamiliar sites. Everything online is not as transparent as it seems, and we need to be discerning, when we surf and download on the Internet. Just as we don’t accept gifts from strangers, we practice the same discernment with the millions of dollars offered online.

Role Modelling

Children learn from their parents. Effective Role Modelling requires parents to demonstrate lifestyles that help children develop a healthy lifestyle. When parents demonstrate control over their usage of technological devices, children will do like-wise. Parents need to teach their children to think before they post, and that everything that is posted online, stays online.

As a parent, I always try my best to practice the tips being discussed. However, it is never easy, and that is why we need to stand together to encourage one another, as we embark on this cyber journey as a parent.

With the Internet changing constantly, there are always new concerns and new variables to think about, but one concern has been around for a while and is here to stay, especially with our and our children’s increasing appetites for data and Wi-Fi. Just check out the video below:

Hope you enjoyed the video! 🙂

As one can see, while we might be cyber-savvy, we might not necessarily be cyber secure or safe.

To make the discussion more interesting, we have a bonus for our readers – we are having a giveaway for three prizes:

First prize: Megazip The Panther Package for 2 adults and 2 juniors (worth $200)
Second prize: ESET Smart Security 1-year for up to 5 users (worth $120)
Third prize: $100 worth of rental vouchers for Y5Buddy Travel Wi-Fi

As we embark on this discussion with the National Security Coordination Secretariat. All you need to do is to:

Comment on this blog post, and tell us if you agree that our children’s cyber savviness does not equate to their keeping cyber safe, and why. If you can share how we can teach our children to be both cyber savvy and safe, even better!
Hashtag your comment with #simicybersavvy and #LetsStandTogetherSG.
LIKE the Ed Unloaded Facebook page and the ‘Let’s Stand Together’ Facebook Page
Make sure your comment is creative and relevant, as that is how we are judging the answers!

The Giveaway ends at 1800hrs on 8 December 2015. For more information and the T&Cs, please click here.

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More about ESET Security:

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(Editor’s decision on Winners are final, and Facebook accounts used solely for Giveaways will NOT be entertained. All incomplete entries will also automatically be disqualified The management reserves all rights to amend or change the terms & conditions of this promotion without prior notice. Final decisions will be made by Ed Unloaded.com.)

(This post is an advertorial together with NSCS, but all opinions are 100% our own)

7 Responses to "You’re teaching your kids to be cyber savvy, but are you teaching them to be cyber secure?"

Pui Foong says:

November 28, 2015 at 2:07 pm

Do you agree that our children’s cyber savviness does not equate to their keeping cyber safe? Why?

I totally agree that our children’s cyber savviness does not equate to their keeping cyber safe. If you see children who are in primary school or maybe even those who are even younger then those primary school going children, their parents have given them smart phones to keep in touch. Young children also constantly play with their tablets all the time. But do these children know the importance of cyber security or being cyber safe? Absolutely not. They may be talking to strangers online and planning to meet them! An even more alarming trend that has emerged is that many engage in sexting and also use special acronyms to avoid parent detection (for example AITR means Adult in the Room)

I feel that children being young need to be educated on the aspect of being cyber safe. Parents should guide them on the use of electronic devices. and also make sure that their children do not end up too dependant on cyber gadgets. They should build trust and rapport with their children, instead of discreetly monitoring their online activities. If possible, they should be issued with non smart phones for communication instead of smart phone. Lastly if they really want to meet a friend from online, the parent should volunteer to go to the meetup as well!

#simicybersavvy and #LetsStandTogetherSG.

Reply
1. Let's Stand Together says:
  
  January 5, 2016 at 2:35 pm
  
  Hi Pui Foong,
  We’d like to inform you that you’ve won the second prize in this contest. Congratulations!
  Kindly refer to http://on.fb.me/1OEC76X on how to collect your prize.
  Best,
  The Let’s Stand Together Campaign
  https://www.facebook.com/letsstandtogether.sg
  
  Reply
Koh Jun Jie Jason says:

November 29, 2015 at 9:56 pm

Yes as parents may not have put measures to prevent these.We can teach time by telling stories and show examples of people getting cheated.

#simicybersavvy #LetsStandTogetherSG

Reply
Lester Chee says:

November 30, 2015 at 9:24 am

Just like being savvy around the roads is not the same as being safe, cyber savviness does not equate to safety. In most times our actions maybe not warrant any undesirable or malicious content but the Internet is full of dangerous traps that have disregard for the age of the user.

Education starts young. Since we cannot completely isolate our children from the www, it’s more effective to guide them how to navigate through potential dangers.

One way we can educate the young is to browse the Internet together with them, at the same time teaching them to identify ads, scams and deals too good to be true.

Reply
Diana Lim says:

December 4, 2015 at 4:08 pm

I agree that our children’s cyber savviness does not equate to their keeping cyber safe. While many children start off with playing simple games like candy crush on their phones, most of them move on to games that connects them with real people. This is so as the generation today focuses on making new friends and more friends. However, behind the many accounts on social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter, we do not know who we’re really communicating with. Thus, a child can do so many things on the net without knowing who are the ones viewing and observing their activities.

To educate the children to be cyber savvy, I think it takes time and it also depends on how much the child is involved in the cyber space. As much as we offer them freedom to explore the cyber world, it would be good to show them the serious consequences they may face if they are not responsible with what they do online that are reflected commonly in the news today. (Twitter is a good source for news online!)

#simicybersavvy #LetsStandTogetherSG.

Reply
1. Let's Stand Together says:
  
  January 5, 2016 at 2:36 pm
  
  Hi Diana,
  We’d like to inform you that you’ve won the third prize in this contest. Congratulations!
  Kindly refer to http://on.fb.me/1OEC76X on how to collect your prize.
  Best,
  The Let’s Stand Together Campaign
  https://www.facebook.com/letsstandtogether.sg
  
  Reply
Zachary Chia says:

December 7, 2015 at 9:49 pm

“The internet is something man created but does not fully understand”. I agree that children’s cyber savviness does not equate to keeping them safe. Knowing something but not understandinf it can be a dangerous thing. A child may be able to use a phone or tablet well but they would not understand the dangers behind it.

For example, when a child gives personal information to a stanger online, to them they are just being friendly and trying to make friends online. However, they do not know what these information can be used for identity theft and much more.

Therefore, educating children on the safety and dangers of the internet is an important thing to do. The tips mentioned above on helping children be cyber safe are very well thought out. One tip I feel could also be used is the use of the internet to teach the children on the safety and dangers of the internet. Websites like youtube has animation and videos teaching children the dangers of using the Internet wrongly and how they can be safe while using it.

Reply
Timothy says:

December 8, 2015 at 3:12 am

Hi edunloaded! I unwaveringly agree with you that cyber savviness does not equate to keeping one cyber safe.

Firstly, I see many parents chuck smartphones into the tiny fingers of toddlers in order to pacify them and keep them occupied. Indeed It’s a simple way to keep their children quiet and well behaved in public. However, the formative years are the first few years of a child’s life. It’s called as such because that time period had such a strong influence on the rest of your life. Personally, I find it disturbing to expose children to tech devices at such as young age for this reason. Furthermore, most of our devices are connected to the internet which has alot of risks.

It may seem reassuring to parents if their child can skype or whatsapp so that they can easily find out what their children are up to. However, the cyber savviness of children these days mean that they are also connected to the internet 24/7. I often find that my email spam box has more phishing emails telling me that I have won a million dollars, or am the lucky beneficiary of an unbelievable sum of money. While I know that these are from malicious individuals, I’m not so sure our children are as discerning. Sometimes, I even get whatsapp messages telling me that I’ve won prizes, like an iPhone 6. Imagine what a child might do if he saw a message like that. Recently I read in the Straits Times that there was a malware that targeted mobile banking customers. I can imagine possible malware targeting children too – Perhaps a message like: “Wow, you are our weekly Fruit Ninja winner, please provide us with your name, NRIC and address for prize collection”.

So what can be done about it? Proper education is a start. Children look up to their parents as role models so parents need to teach their children about the dangers on the internet. Children need to be able to apply the principle of “not talking to strangers” both in real life and online. Parents should install security software to safeguard their children when using smartphones and other devices. Software that identify suspicious websites and can quarantine malware are the first line of defence for our children. Parents should also properly set up internet filters on their children’s devices so that they do not stray into malicious websites or download malware unintentionally. I hope the examples I’ve mentioned are real and believable enough. Parents would do anything to keep their children safe. However, if they think cyber savviness equates to cyber safety then they leave their children vulnerable to cybercrime.

#simicybersavvy #letsStandTogetherSG

Reply
Cecilia Chng says:

December 10, 2015 at 9:28 pm

I agree, because they are so young and so curious that they will click and talk to anything and anyone! #simicybersavvy #LetsStandTogetherSG

Reply

You’re teaching your kids to be cyber savvy, but are you teaching them to be cyber secure?

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