Disclaimer: I have teamed up with AVG Technologies in support of this campaign. We received compensation for participation in this campaign. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
I just got off the phone with my credit card company’s fraud department. It feels awful when you answer the phone and find out it’s them because you know what it means- you’ve been taken advantage of by someone and you don’t even have a clue who it is or how they got your information. Don’t get me wrong, I am really grateful they caught the person before it got out of hand and I had $4,000 of random charges, it is just offensive to have my privacy violated. It is good to have a reminder thought that it is important to do what I can to use the Internet safely to protect our families privacy.
Protecting our families privacy online can feel like a daunting task, especially when our children are thrown into the mix. We have to face the reality that our children are very technology savvy and are often exposed to more than we realize online. In a global survey conducted by AVG technologies they found that by the age of 3-5, more children are able to navigate a smartphone (47%) than tie their shoes (14%) or swim unaided (23%). In the survey the majority of parents said that by the age of 12, they felt their child would know more about the internet than they did, and one in five said this had or would have already happened by the age of nine. It is our job as parents to make sure that we protect our children from online risks by teaching them about cyber-bullying, safe searching and how to guard themselves from those who would want to take advantage of them electronically.
It would be easy to blame schools for our kids lack of knowledge about Internet safety but the responsibility to teach always starts in the home. In AVG technologies survey the majority of U.S. teens said parents were more likely to pay attention to their homework (78%) than the time they spent online (40%) or social media (34%). It’s important we start to pay attention.
AVG Technologies and Childnet International have partnered to publish an interactive e-book series, Magda and Mo, to help parents and children navigate tricky Internet safety topics such as cyberbullying and safe searching. This can be a great FREE tool for helping teach our kids about this issue and to start dialogue in order to be proactive and involved in their online use.
Another great product is AVG PrivacyFix which helps control and lock-in your privacy on your PC, mobile device and tablet. With a personal, easy-to-use dashboard, you’re able to monitor and adjust your privacy settings online and prevent third parties from tracking your activities and location. The best part is you can download it for FREE.
Click here for more from AVG Technologies.
Click here for Magda and Mo eBooks.
Click here for AVG PrivacyFix.
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