• Parents have a role to play in ensuring the safety of their children online. This is because children of this generation spend quite a lot of their time online. Whether interacting with peers, shopping or simply watching movies.

Tips to keep your child protected

• The following is a list of steps that a parent can take to ensure that their children are not endangered online:

  a) Have open and honest dialogue with your children no matter their age. Especially when it comes to their use of technology and the risks of connecting directly with strangers online.

  b) Get to know the online environments your children use and teach them how to deal with inappropriate material.

  c) Remind them that the Internet is a public space. Things they do and say now on social networking sites could have implications down the road when they’re looking for employment (employers often search personal profiles for information about candidates).

  d) Stay in the know about the latest ways children are communicating and what they’re up to when they’re at friend’s houses.

  e) Keep an eye on the sites they’re visiting by keeping the computer in a common area like the kitchen.

  f) Talk to other parents about their children’s online privileges and what works for them.

  g) If your child is using live text and voice chats for online games, warn them not to give personal information to a stranger.

  h) Avoid using a single dictionary word for a password.

  i) Be careful about what you post about your children or activities related to them like the location of their school, or where you or they are volunteering.

  j) When warning them about internet risk be specific so that they do not fill gaps. Tell them like it is and they won’t miss the point or get a different meaning from what you are saying.