I am a firm believer in the positive online opportunities that exist and am ready to look for the good and even great things kids do online like being creative, advocating change, sharing interests with friends, innovative game strategies apply and more. I also believe that the phenomenal increase in online activity that we are witnessing and experiencing will have some impact on our health, development, or general wellbeing.

The pandemic won’t last forever, but the digital aftermath may still be felt for a while. And in this case, online child safety is so much more than just child safety. It also means providing children with the tools and skills to use technology and the internet responsibly, and ensuring their digital wellbeing when they are online.

Critical thinking on the internet

You are your child’s first and foremost teacher. Thinking critically and being able to analyze an online situation is therefore a key skill for children and parents. The following prompts are designed to help you reflect more critically about safe online behavior. These prompts can be applied when purchasing devices, downloading a game or app, or even viewing YouTube or Netflix. The idea is to ask a series of questions to determine what will be beneficial for your family.

Here are ideas to get you started:

After answering these questions – based on your scenario – you can decide what is best for your family. Like my example with my son, we were able to examine the subject and provide parameters for the future.

Responsible online security

One of the greatest skills parents can instill in their children is the ability to be responsible online: the ability to act wisely when their parents are not looking over their shoulders. In other words, responsible children should be able to spot risky situations, find solutions to digital dilemmas, act as upstanders (when safe to do so), respect differences on the internet (but respectfully challenge others), and know how to do it block or report incidents to their parents or a trusted adult. Here are a few tips that can help your family:

• Participate in open and transparent conversations where they can share what is happening online and where you listen and offer support.

• Praise your child for alerting you to an online situation and try to find a solution together.

• Remind your child that anything posted, shared, forwarded, commented on, etc. can stay online forever.

• Remind your younger children the grandma rule: would grandma be happy if she saw you act like this?

Online communities

And finally, it’s not just kids online who can connect and network. Parents and carers should create their own digital parenting communities where they can talk to other parents and carers. Ask other parents what games and movies their kids like, and what apps and social media platforms their kids are using (and at what age). Compare notes and share resources and best practices.

After all, it really takes a digital parenting community to raise a digital child.

Examples of digital parenting communities you can interact with, ask questions, and learn best practices are listed below:

For tips on how to use media healthily and mindfully for the family, see Ask the Mediatrician. This blog and podcast by Dr. Michael Rich and his team of experts at Harvard University’s Center on Media and Child Health are great resources – and you can even submit your own questions.

The Family Lowdown started as a Facebook group at the beginning of the pandemic lockdown for parents who wanted to share ideas and stay healthy. If you need proven parenting ideas – not theories – that work in real life, check out this private group. It’s a global hub for innovation, creativity, and support to make family time and everything in between as great as possible.

If you want to know what teachers are saying about online resources, join the Facebook teachers group on Amazing Educational Resources. This community shares the good, bad, and ugly about the many teaching resources available on the internet.

It is not possible to always know everything, but awareness is everything. This digital parenting community brings together a mix of everything: parents, educators, online kids experts, psychologists, and more, where they share ideas and strategies as we educate in the digital age.

If you like a little more research-based advice in the mix, give The Happiness Lab a try. Yale Professor Dr. Laurie Santos shares the latest scientific research and inspirational stories that will forever change your outlook on happiness.

And finally, here! Parenting in a Digital World will continue to provide articles, expert opinions and blog posts on all aspects of parenting in today’s digital world.

Bonus: There are even a number of kid-friendly, parent-approved tablets and watches out there to help kids study while keeping an eye on their safety.

See how Verizon partners with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.