Not So Average Mama

North Dallas Texas Mom Blog

  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclosure
  • Advertising Info
  • Email
  • Start Here
  • Around Our House
    • Homeschool
    • Minimalist
    • Words of Wisdom
    • She’s Crafty
    • Monday Molly
    • Recipes
    • Uncategorized
  • Did You Know?
    • I’m So Cheap
      • Coupons!
  • Contests

Talking to Your Kids about the Internet

05.28.2011 by Girl on Fire // Leave a Comment

When most of us were born, the internet wasn’t even around. We didn’t have to worry about email spam, phishing scams, or online predators. So this Internet thing is a concept that even we, as mothers, are still trying to grasp, while our children are growing up with it, using it in schools, and even communicating to each other through it.

Even if our kids are way ahead of the game than we are, we can still take precautions with their Internet use. It is important to remember that restricting certain websites will only make children more curious about them, so talking to them instead will establish a respectful and honest relationship between you and your child, and encourage your child to come back to ask questions more often. The following are topics about the Internet that you can address with your child.

1. Privacy

The hot topic right now, especially with Facebook’s ever-changing policies, is the issue of privacy. You should warn your child about the dangers of putting too much information online, without being threatening. Ask if you can sit down with your child to look at their privacy settings on Facebook. There may be a lot of jargon on there that they don’t understand, and that you will be able to change.

Also tell them not to put up any personal information in public spaces. This includes email address, phone number, where they’re going, or where they go to school.

2. Appropriateness

Our children idolize so many celebrities that they sometimes mimic their actions, attitude, and dress. While this could be a good or bad thing, the way they portray themselves online should be discussed. In the real world, employers look up prospective employees online to see how they manage their own image. Suggestive pictures, questionable posts, and other inappropriate content could break a deal for an otherwise decent job candidate. People must learn to control their online presence by monitoring and censoring what they put up online.

Getting your children into this habit early is a quality they can use throughout the rest of their lives. Teach them that anything they put up should not upset or bother Grandma. This usually works, even for adults.

3. What Kids at Age ____ Should be Doing

Let your child know what you think he or she should be doing online, based on his or her age. For a seven-year-old, playing games online is appropriate, but definitely not online dating. For teenagers, tell them it’s okay to read about their favorite celebrities, but watch out for “bad” sites. If their gut is telling them something is not right, they should probably get away from it, or come and get you to look at it first.

4. Scams

Ads can sometimes be tricky to the untrained eye. Teach your child to look for disclaimers on ads, such as the words “Sponsored” or “Advertisement.”

Also never teach them to respond to emails from people they don’t know, or even suspicious emails from people they do know. As said before, if their gut is telling them something is not right, get away from it or go ask you.

The Internet is a valuable resource that many of us rely on today. But it should be approached with caution, especially for the younger generations of Internet users. That’s why as parents, we should follow this technology and teach our kids the importance of using the Internet with precaution.

This was a Guest Post contributed by Author: Carrie L.

Bio: Carrie is an old fashion mid-western mother of two who spends her spare time teaching middle school history. In addition to the never ending task of raising “Daisy” and “Ice Man” (Dad got to pick one of the nicknames…), Carrie enjoys contributing her unique thoughts and opinions to parenting and travel blogs.

Related Posts

  • How To Make Sure You Keep Your Family Safe Over The Summer MonthsHow To Make Sure You Keep Your Family Safe Over The Summer Months
  • Road Rules: Fast and Simple Strategies to Keep Kids Safe in Your Family CarRoad Rules: Fast and Simple Strategies to Keep Kids Safe in Your Family Car
  • Keeping our Kids Safe!Keeping our Kids Safe!
  • Parenting Teens in a Digital AgeParenting Teens in a Digital Age
  • YourSphere Getting Signed Up!YourSphere Getting Signed Up!
  • Finally, Safe Social Media For Kids and Teens!Finally, Safe Social Media For Kids and Teens!
The following two tabs change content below.
  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Google+ profileMy Instagram profileMy Pinterest profile

Girl on Fire

Photographer at Loudmouth Photography
Brandy is the wife to a carpenter/musician and the mother of 3 amazingly awesome homeschool/unschooled girls. Brandy is a Photographer as well as a Coach for the Weebellion as part of Rolling Rebellion Jr. Roller Derby. Brandy is passionate about many things and suffers from a very painful and degenerative neurological disease called CRPS/RSD.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Google+ profileMy Instagram profileMy Pinterest profile

Latest posts by Girl on Fire (see all)

  • Hey, it’s been a minute… - April 14, 2025
  • Benefits of Dual Diagnosis Treatment - January 25, 2023
  • How to Help Family With Mental Health Issues? - January 3, 2023

Categories // Around Our House Tags // internet, internet safety, Kids, online dating, safety, scams, Talk to kids, teens

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check out my new site Habitually Awesome!

internet marketing

Not So Average Mama is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Not So Average Mama also uses other affiliate programs to earn commissions. When you click on links in my posts and make a purchase, I may earn a commission. Please see my disclosure.

trendy baby clothes

Email Subscribe

printable coupons

Printable Coupons

Get your printable coupons and save more money! FEATURED COUPONS COUPONS.COM $1.00 off 4 Old Orchard frozen juice concentrates $1.00 off Two 64oz Old Orchard 100% Juice Blends $1.00 off any 2 Healthy Balance™ juice drinks $1.00 off any 2 Cranberry Naturals™ juice drinks $1.00 off Diamond Nuts 8oz or greater $2.00 off any one […]

© 2025 · Not So Average Mama ·

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok