Protecting our children from harm is paramount for all parents and educators. While this is a priority, the reality is that most children are still at risk of giving out identifying information online. Even elementary age students encounter predators.<\/p>\n
Some children avoid sharing their online activities with parents or authority figures. The stories about online safety went awry can be terrifying. The most significant difference that parents can make is to be consistent with implementing online safety controls and not assume that horror stories won\u2019t happen to their family.<\/p>\n
Personal Information<\/strong><\/p>\n Your child doesn\u2019t have to do much to expose their identity and location. They may have downloaded a chat app like Kik<\/a> or What\u2019s App, or even be using Facebook or Instagram. By doing so, a potential predator may have their (first + last) name, which can be further searched through Google or social media platforms.<\/p>\n From there, a stranger could discover your child\u2019s home address, town, school, or hangouts. This could happen as innocently as your child tagging their school in a photograph or sharing that they and their friends hang out at the same donut shop every Wednesday, after school.<\/p>\n[aesop_image img=”https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/My-Post-19.jpg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”200″ offset=”200″ align=”center” lightbox=”on” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n What can you do?<\/p>\n Turn on parental controls and security passwords on your child\u2019s phone or computer. That way, you can review any apps they want to download and give consent. You should regularly check search and web history and consider doing a comprehensive algorithm-based search for your child on Social Catfish<\/a>.<\/p>\n