Safe Internet for parents. Safe Internet for children - tips for parents

Using the Internet is a joy.

Have the most fun while staying safe.

This is important to know!

When you register on sites, do not provide personal information (mobile phone number, residential address and other data).

Use your webcam only when chatting with friends. Make sure that strangers do not have the opportunity to see your conversation. Learn how to turn your webcam on and off yourself.

You should know that if you publish photos or videos on the Internet, everyone can see them.

Don't post photos that show other people. Do this only with their consent.

Publish only information that you will not regret publishing.

Unsolicited emails from strangers are called “Spam”. If you receive such a letter, do not respond to it. If you reply to such an email, the sender will know that you are using your email account and will continue to send you spam.

If you receive a message from an unfamiliar address, it is better not to open it. Such emails may contain viruses.

Do not add strangers to your ICQ contact list.

If you receive letters with unpleasant or insulting content, or if someone behaves inappropriately towards you, tell an adult about it.

If a person you met on the Internet invites you to meet at real life, then warn him that you will come to meet him with an adult. If your virtual friend is really who he says he is, he will react normally to your concern for special safety.

If you have any questions or problems while working online, be sure to talk to someone you trust about it. Your parents or other adults can help or give good advice about what you should do. Any problem can be solved! You can contact the “Children Online” helpline by phone: 8−800−25−000−15 (toll-free in Russia) or by e-mail: [email protected]. Experts will advise you what to do.

Internet etiquette

When communicating online, treat other people the way you would like to be treated. Avoid using bad language and don't say things that will make someone feel bad.

Learn "netiquette" when you're online. What is considered good to do and say and what is not? For example, if you type a message in CAPITAL LETTERS, your interlocutor may think that you are shouting at him.

If someone says something rude or unpleasant, don't respond. Leave the chat or forum immediately.

"Suspicious" sites

If a website looks suspicious or has a warning page for people under 18, leave it immediately. Some sites are not suitable for children.

Do not go to indecent sites and do not share links to such sites. If you see that something is bothering you, discuss it with your parents or someone you trust.

Know how to leave a website if your internet search leads you to an unpleasant or indecent website. Press control-alt-delete if the site does not allow you to leave, or turn off your computer monitor and tell an adult about it.

Check with your parents to make sure your search engine is set to block adult content.

Ask parents to install internet filtering software that will block “wrong” sites.

Ask your parents to help you find safe and fun sites and bookmark them for later use.

Watch your back!

If you see or know that your friend is being bullied online, support them and report it to an adult. After all, you would want him to do the same for you.

Do not send messages or images that may harm or upset anyone. Even if you didn't start it, you will be considered part of the bullying circle.

Always be on guard if someone, especially a stranger, wants to talk to you about adult relationships. Remember that online you can never be sure of a person’s true nature and intentions. Approaching a child or teenager with sexual intentions is always a serious cause for concern. You should tell a trusted adult about this so that you can report the unpleasant situation to law enforcement.

If you have been lured or tricked into performing sexual acts or sharing sexual images of yourself, you should always tell a trusted adult for advice or help. No adult has the right to demand this from a child or teenager - the responsibility always lies with the adult.

Memo for parents "Safe Internet"

Dear parents! If your children use the Internet, you are no doubt worried about how to protect them from the troubles that can lurk in their journey through this ocean of information. Significant distribution of material that is intended for adults only or is otherwise inappropriate for children can easily lead to unpleasant consequences. In addition, there are often people on the Internet who try to make contact with children using the Internet, pursuing goals that are dangerous to the child or for illegal purposes.

Precautionary measures

Talk to the children. The first thing to explain is that being on the Internet is a lot like being in a public place. A significant part of the dangers that await the user are very similar to the risks that arise when communicating with strangers. Children must clearly understand that if they do not personally know the person they are communicating with online, this is the same as communicating with a stranger in real life, which is prohibited.

Basic rules for parents

1. Be aware of what your children are doing online. Ask them to teach you how to use different apps that you haven't used before.

2. Help your children understand that they should not post information about themselves on the Internet: mobile phone number, home address, school number, or show photographs (of themselves and their families). After all, anyone can see this and use it to their advantage.

3. If your child receives spam (unsolicited email), remind him not to believe what is written in such emails and to never respond to them.

4. Explain to children that they cannot open files sent strangers. These files may contain viruses or photo and video materials with obscene or aggressive content.

5. Explain that some people on the Internet may not be who they say they are. Children should never meet online friends they don’t know in real life on their own, without adults.

6. Constantly communicate with your children, tell them, advise them on how to act and react correctly to the actions of other people on the Internet.

7. Teach your children to react correctly if someone has offended them online or they have received/came across aggressive content. Tell them where they can turn in such a case.

8. Make sure that the computer your children use has filtering tools installed and configured correctly.

Remember! These simple measures, as well as confidential conversations with children about the rules of working on the Internet, will allow you to feel calm when letting your child go on an educational journey through the World Wide Web.

Network Threats

There are almost 21 million children under the age of 14 living in Russia. Of these, 10 million actively use the Internet, which is 18% of our country’s Internet audience. According to RUmetrics, three quarters of children use the Internet independently. At the same time, 39% of children visit porn sites, 19% watch scenes of violence, 16% are fond of gambling, 14% are interested in narcotic substances and alcohol, and 11% visit extremist and nationalist resources. It seems that the Internet is a breeding ground for evil and a habitat for immoral people. In fact, everything is not as bad as it seems at first glance. The Internet has a lot of educational information, communication tools and useful services. The Internet is useful for study, work and just for entertainment. Rare child will specifically look for illegal content. Most often, underage users end up on dangerous pages by accident. Numerous pop-up windows, queries misinterpreted by the search engine, links on social networks - all this leads the child to sites with unsafe content. But no matter how children end up on “bad” resources, the fact remains that as a result they are still exposed to dangerous content.

Cyberbullying

At all times, there were hooligans in the school community who, through their actions, liked to cause inconvenience and discomfort to other students. Thanks to scientific progress, it is no longer necessary to be strong and arrogant. It is enough just to be able to use a computer well. Cyberbullies engage in bullying, humiliation, embarrassment, harassment or other hostile behavior towards another child using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies or Cell phones. The difference between this activity and regular school bullying is that cyberbullying is not always directed at a weak victim. Anonymity on the Internet allows you to annoy anyone, even a much stronger physically opponent. There are a lot in various ways ruin the victim's life. Here are the most popular ones:

sending rude or threatening messages, emails, images, videos and other materials;
publishing compromising messages or photographs on various websites;
communicating with the victim on behalf of another person with the intent to cause mental suffering;
“cloning” the victim’s accounts in order to ruin her reputation on a certain resource;
hacking and gaining control of the victim's accounts.

There are also more complex methods: for example, a compromising video about the victim is recorded and posted on the Internet for public viewing, or materials stolen from her personal archives, recordings made with a hidden camera, and videos of bullying the victim are posted on the Internet. A number of particularly clever offenders are capable of infecting a teenager’s computer with a virus. In general, the methods used by hooligans are determined only by their imagination, intelligence and technical capabilities.

Electronic resources on the topic “Safe Internet”

1. - Safe Internet. Portal of the Russian Organizing Committee for the Year of Safe Internet.

2. - Center for Safe Internet in Russia. The site is dedicated to the problem of safe, correct and comfortable work on the Internet. Internet threats and effective counteraction to them.

3. - Internet Development Foundation. Information about projects, competitions, conferences, etc. on computer security and Internet security.

4. kids/etusivu.html - “Basics of Internet Safety for Children and Youth”: an interactive course on Internet safety offered by the Russian office of Microsoft as part of Microsoft’s global initiatives “Children’s Online Safety” and “Partnership in Education.” In the section for students (7-16 years old) it is proposed to study the problems information security through stories in pictures. The section for parents and teachers provides updated information on how to make the Internet safer for children and outlines computer safety issues.

5. library/article.jsp?aid=cs_teach_kids - Club Symantec - your one-stop source for online safety information. Article for parents “Tell your children about Internet safety.” Information about parental controls.

6. - the site is intended for teachers, parents, children related to primary school.

7. tei-v-internete.html - personal security. Basics of life safety. Recommendations for adults: how to make browsing the Internet completely safe for children.

8. - information for parents: reminders, tips, recommendations from Microsoft

9. - "Interneshka" - children's online competition on safe use of the Internet. Advice for children, teachers and parents, useful links.

10. - computer informational portal. Article for parents “Ensuring the safety of children when working on the Internet.” Recommendations for the Parental Control program.

11. - Russian State Children's Library. Resource for children and parents. Safe Internet Rules. Review software products for a secure Internet. How to protect yourself from Internet threats. Links to electronic resources, informing about dangers and protection on the network.

A child should become familiar with the rules of behavior on the Internet as soon as he learns to open a browser. Tell him that online people can rob, offend and intimidate, as well as harm their smartphone or computer. However, if you follow simple rules, this can be avoided. Here are the main ones:

• You cannot purchase anything, including in-app purchases.
• You cannot download music, games, applications, books and other content from unverified sites.
• You cannot communicate with strangers via instant messaging or social networks. Even with children: a boy or girl can easily turn out to be an adult man.
• You cannot disclose personal information: home address and telephone number, parental income level, number of the school where you study.
• You cannot post too explicit pictures and indicate geolocation if the photo was taken in an apartment or in a schoolyard.

Educational games will help you get acquainted with the rules of online behavior. Thus, “I-risks” is dedicated to safe behavior on the Internet, “Cool Games” - rules for communicating with cyberbullies. Both games are designed for teenagers aged 12 years and older, but younger children can play them with the participation of parents or teachers.

The longer parents can help their child explore the Internet in a friendly manner, including creating pages on social networks, posting photos, updating antivirus software and playing games, the better.

Liya Sharova, Internet security expert, founder of the Stop Threat security school.

2. Encourage sharing of questionable information.

According to the data Secure Internet of the future Regional community center information technologies, one in five children aged 12–13 years does not turn to anyone for help in case of cyberbullying. And only 17% tell their parents about it.

Children hide information from their parents because they believe that they can expect nothing but hysterics, bans on accessing the Internet and scandals from their parents. Only calm, friendly communication will allow you to protect your child from real harm in time.

Liya Sharova.

Tell your child that if a problem arises on the Internet, he can call the Children of Russia Online service at 8 800 25-000-15. Operators provide psychological and informational support on weekdays from 9.00 to 18.00 Moscow time.

3. Allow the use of gadgets only in the common room

There is no need to stand over your soul. Place your child where you can see the screen of the gadget from which he is viewing information. If he protests, explain that this is for his own safety.

4. Set control over available devices

According to the data Children's Internet Usage Study US Center for Cyber ​​Security and Education, 62% of children 9–15 years old go to adult sites after finding them in a search, 21% watch videos intended for adults.

You will not be able to reach all the gadgets from which your child accesses the Internet. However, it is up to you to protect the ones you have at home. For this:

• Install.
• Install parental control software.
• Enable Safe Search in your browser.
• Install browsers for children. For example, "Gogul" or Kidoz.
• Allow the use of sites for children only. For example, sites with the domain “.children”.
• Install applications adapted for children. For example, or ivi.ru.

It is almost impossible to protect a child from adult information. Children bypass parental prohibitions and restrictions, skillfully deceiving adults. They all watch YouTube during breaks at school and already in the third or fourth grade they know about pornography and drugs.

Liya Sharova.

5. Make friends on social networks

Social networks will help you quickly learn about your child’s interests and experiences and maintain communication with him. Add him as a friend, exchange links, like him. But under no circumstances criticize your friends’ pages or his own, and don’t overwhelm him with comments. After all, if the child becomes uncomfortable, he will open a second account, which you will no longer know about.

6. Don’t get involved in correspondence without asking

The innocent desire to read a child’s correspondence violates his right to privacy and secrets. Show respect and restrain yourself. If you cannot cope with the desire to do everything, consult a psychotherapist. After all, in order to know what is happening in a child’s life, you need to build a trusting relationship with him.

You cannot interfere with your child’s correspondence without his permission. This can greatly reduce children's trust in their parents. The consequences of this could be even more devastating than what the parents learned from the correspondence.

Yana Fedulova, candidate of psychological sciences, psychologist.

And if you still couldn’t restrain yourself and took a peek, then don’t pay attention to profanity and rudeness. The only important thing here is what poses a danger: discussion of fights, offers of drugs, invitations from adult strangers, intimate photographs. And if you find any of this in the correspondence, then gather your will, ask for violation of boundaries and explain to the child what is threatening him. Moreover, it is very important to maintain an atmosphere of goodwill, no matter how difficult it may be.

Child safety on the Internet

Modern children differ significantly from children not only of the past century, but also of recent decades. Now children go out less often and communicate less with peers, preferring virtual friends. The usual exclamations from mothers: “Are you going outside again?!” were replaced by no less emotional “Are you surfing the Internet again?!” Unfortunately, these are the realities of the times that must be taken into account. The Internet is increasingly invading our lives. And children sometimes begin to get to know him at a very early age.

Virtual space - fascinating world, its possibilities are endless. But the Network is fraught with many dangers; an inexperienced child can be very easily deceived; his trust is easy to gain through the Internet, even with the help of ordinary correspondence. This is what cybercriminals usually take advantage of. To protect a young user from possible harm, it is necessary to provide detailed instructions before he begins to master cyberspace.

First. Tell your child what the Internet space is, how the Internet is useful, what interesting things can be found there and what negative things can be found there. It is better to present a virtual network as an assistant in finding information or as a means of education, and not as an opportunity for entertainment and pleasure, so that the child does not sit through everything free time on the network, but distributed it correctly as needed.

Second. Agree with your child how much time he will spend online. Each age should have its own time - than older child, the more it can be online, but certain boundaries must still be maintained. For a ten-year-old child, 30 minutes is enough. You can create a list of house rules for using the Internet, which will indicate a list of sites that you can visit, information about the protection of personal data, ethical behavior on the Internet, and so on.

Third. Warn your child that he may encounter prohibited information and intruders online. We are talking about violence, drugs, pornography, pages with nationalist or frankly fascist ideology. After all, all this is available on the Internet without restrictions. It often happens that viewing such information does not even depend on the child - many sites display pop-up windows containing any information, most often of a pornographic nature. When faced with negative content, a child must tell his parents about it.

Fourth. Teach children privacy. If a site requires your child to enter a name, help them come up with a nickname that doesn't reveal any personal information. Tell your children that you cannot share any information about your family - share problems, talk about family members, or financial status.

Explain to your child not to give out personal information such as home address, telephone number and any other personal information such as school number, class, favorite place walks, time to return home, place of work of father or mother, etc.

Fifth. Talk to your kids about their virtual friends and what they do as if they were friends in real life. Often pedophiles register on children's websites, enter into correspondence with the child, communicate long time- all this for a specific purpose - to gain the child’s trust and achieve a meeting with him. It’s not difficult to guess what the consequences of the meeting might be. Tell them it's never a good idea to date your online friends. After all, people may not turn out to be who they say they are. Teach your children to talk about encounters in real life. If a child wants to meet a friend, he must inform adults about this.

Sixth. Tell us about online scams - sweepstakes, lotteries, tests, so that a child never, without the knowledge of adults, sends SMS to find out any information from the Internet.

Seventh. Teach your children that they should never respond to instant messages or emails from strangers. If something scares a child, worries him, or someone threatens him in correspondence or in a letter, he must tell adults about it. Introduce your child to these simple rules, and he will have an idea of ​​what he may encounter on the Internet and will know how to behave in this case. If your child trusts you and tells you everything that impressed him online and who he met, you will be able to avoid very serious troubles, such as online child abduction and sexual exploitation of children. But don’t overdo it - you don’t need to intimidate your child with the Internet, saying that this is a very dangerous and scary thing, but you need to know how to use it. The child must learn the idea that the Internet is a friend, and if you are “friends” with it correctly, you can get a lot of benefit from it. And only an adult can teach him how to be “friends” correctly. So all the cards are in your hands.

Don't forget to monitor children on the Internet using a special software. This will help you filter out harmful content, find out which sites your child is actually visiting and what he is doing there.

Can your child become internet addicted?

Don't forget that the Internet is a wonderful means of communication, especially for shy children who have difficulty communicating. After all, neither age, nor appearance, nor physical characteristics have anything to do with it. of the slightest significance. However, this path leads to the formation of Internet addiction. Realize this problem quite difficult until it becomes very serious. And, besides, the fact of the presence of such a disease as Internet addiction is not always recognized. What to do?

Safety tips for children of different ages.

As studies conducted on the Internet have shown, the most growing segment of Internet users are preschoolers.

At this age, adults will play a decisive role in teaching children how to use the Internet safely.

What can children aged 5-6 years do?

Children of this age are characterized by a positive outlook on the world. They take pride in their reading and math skills and love to share their ideas.

Even though children at this age are very capable in using games and using a mouse, they still depend heavily on you when searching for children's sites. How can we help them do this safely?

At this age, it is advisable to work on the Internet only in the presence of parents.

Be sure to explain to your child that communicating on the Internet is not real life, but a kind of game. At the same time, try to direct his efforts to understanding the world.

Add children's sites to the Favorites section. Create a folder there for the sites your children visit.

Teach your child never to give out information about themselves or their family online.

Encourage your child to report any threats or worries related to the Internet to you.

Your children are growing, and, therefore, their interests are changing.

Age from 7 to 8 years.

According to psychologists, it is absolutely natural for children of this age to want to find out what they can afford to do without parental permission. As a result, while on the Internet, the child will try to visit certain sites, and possibly chat rooms, that he would not have received permission to visit from his parents.

Therefore, at this age, the reports that Parental Control will provide you with or what you can see in the temporary files of the Internet folder will be especially useful: \Users\User\AppData\ Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files (in operating system Windows Vista).

As a result, your child won't feel like you're looking over their shoulder at the screen, but you'll still know what sites your child is visiting.

It is worth understanding that children at this age have strong feeling families, they are trusting and do not doubt authorities. Children of this age love to play network games and surf the Internet. It is possible that they use email and may access sites and chat rooms that are not recommended by their parents.

About use Email I would like to note that at this age it is recommended not to allow you to have your own email account, but to use the family one so that parents can control the correspondence. Software such as Kaspersky can help you prevent your child from using external free boxes. Internet Security version 7.0 with built-in parental controls.

What can be advised in terms of safety at this age?

Show your child that you are watching him not because you want to, but because you are concerned about his safety and are always ready to help him.

Teach your children that they should only visit sites that you allow, i.e. create a so-called Internet “white” list for them using Parental Controls. We'll talk about how to do this later.

Use special children's search engines, such as MSN Kids Search (http://search.msn.com/kids/default.aspx?FORM=YCHM).

Use tools to block inappropriate content as an addition to standard Parental Controls.

Create a family email account to prevent children from having their own email addresses.

Block access to sites with free mailboxes using the appropriate software.

Encourage your children to consult with you before posting any information through email, chat, registration forms, and profiles.

Teach your children not to download files, programs or music without your consent.

Use email filters to block messages from specific people or containing certain words or phrases. More information about such filters http://www.microsoft.com/rus/athome/security/email/fightspam.mspx.

Do not allow children to use instant messaging services.

Add only sites with a good reputation to the white list of sites allowed for visiting.

Remember to talk to your children about their online friends as you would about friends in real life.

Don't make sexuality a taboo, as children can easily stumble upon pornography or adult sites on the Internet.

Ages from 9-12 years.

At this age, children, as a rule, have already heard about what information exists on the Internet. It’s completely normal that they want to see, read, hear it. However, you need to remember that access to inappropriate materials can be easily blocked using Parental Controls.

Create a list of house rules for visiting the Internet with the participation of children and demand their implementation.

Require your child to adhere to time limits for being on the computer.

Show your child that you are watching him not because you want to, but because you are concerned about his safety and are always ready to help him.

A computer with an Internet connection must be located in the common room under parental supervision.

Use tools to block inappropriate content as an addition to standard Parental Controls.

Don't forget to talk to your children about their online friends.

Insist that children never accept face-to-face meetings with friends over the Internet.

Allow your children to access only sites from the “white” list that you create together with them.

Give your child a limited account for working on a computer.

Encourage your child to report any threats or worries related to the Internet to you. Remain calm and remind children that they are safe if they tell you about their threats or concerns. Praise them and encourage them to come again in similar cases.

Insist that your children give you access to their email to make sure they are not communicating with strangers.

Explain to children that the Internet should not be used for hooliganism, spreading gossip or threats.

13-17 years old.

At this age, it is often very difficult for parents to control their children, since they already know much more about the Internet than their parents. However, it is especially important to strictly adhere to Internet safety rules - an agreement between parents and children. You should also review reports of your children's online activities as often as possible. You should pay attention to the need to keep parent passwords (administrator passwords) strictly confidential and pay attention to the strictness of these passwords.

At the age of 13-17, teenagers actively use search engines, use email, instant messaging services, and download music and movies. Boys prefer to sweep away all restrictions; they crave rude humor, gambling, and pictures “for adults.” Girls prefer to communicate in chat rooms, and they are much more sensitive to sexual harassment in the Internet.

Safety tips for this age.

Create a list of house rules for visiting the Internet with the participation of teenagers and demand unconditional compliance with them. Indicate a list of prohibited sites ("black list"), opening hours on the Internet, guidelines for communicating on the Internet (including in chat rooms).

A computer with an Internet connection must be located in the common room; Online hours can be easily adjusted using Parental Controls.

Don't forget to talk to your children about their online friends and what they are doing in a way that we're talking about about friends in real life. Ask about the people your children communicate with via instant messaging services to make sure they know these people.

Use tools to block inappropriate content as an addition to standard Parental Controls.

You need to know what chat rooms your children use. Encourage the use of moderated chat rooms and insist that children do not communicate in private mode.

Insist that children never meet online friends in person.

Teach children never to give out personal information through email, chat rooms, instant messaging, registration forms, personal profiles, or when registering for online contests.

Teach your children not to download software without your permission. Explain to them that they may accidentally download viruses or other unwanted software.

Encourage your child to report any threats or worries related to the Internet to you. Remain calm and remind your children that they are safe if they tell you about their threats or concerns. Praise them and encourage them to come again in similar cases.

Teach your children about Internet pornography.

Help them protect themselves from spam. Teach teenagers not to give out their email addresses on the Internet, not to respond to unsolicited emails, and to use special email filters.

Train yourself to become familiar with the sites that teenagers visit.

Explain to children that under no circumstances should they use the Internet for hooliganism, spreading gossip, or threatening other people.

Discuss with teenagers the problems of online gambling and their possible risk. Remind that children are not allowed to play these games by law.

How to carry out parental control over children's behavior on the Internet?

You can provide parental control on the Internet using various software, for example, Parental Control in Windows Vista, Parental Control tools built into Kaspersky Internet Security.

At a certain point, when a child grows up and begins to use a computer, mothers and fathers are faced with the following questions:

• At what age can a child be allowed to use the Internet?

You can get answers to these and other questions in this article.

Should you let your child use the Internet?

The Internet space is a part of our present life. For a parent, performing his functions, it is important to give the child the opportunity to receive the benefits of this world, teach him to use the benefits that exist in the world, and protect him, and teach him to defend himself from the dangers that exist in the world.

The Internet space, just like everything that surrounds us, can be both useful and harmful.

Some useful things on the Internet:

Firstly, a large number of information about everything under the sun. There is no need to go to the library or look for encyclopedias if you want to understand this or that issue in more detail. You can simply find relevant books, articles, and excerpts from encyclopedias on the Internet.

Secondly, the Internet facilitates communication between people, both spatially and psychologically. Those. we can now calmly correspond and even now see and talk with the interlocutor who is on the other end globe. We can do this easily and for free, in unlimited quantities.

Psychologically, the Internet facilitates communication in the sense that it removes communication barriers. Under an anonymous nickname you can be more open, free, and express yourself as you dreamed of. For many people, this is a chance to satisfy their need for communication.

For example, on the Internet in communication it does not matter: what you look like, how old you are, etc. For example, a teenage boy with cerebral palsy can feel completely equal on the Internet with other teenagers, write his thoughts, and communicate.

In addition, on the Internet, many people have the opportunity to realize themselves. Someone writes articles, he doesn’t have to look for opportunities to publish them, someone finds a job, someone got the opportunity to teach other people what they do well.

For example, a 10-year-old girl I know films her own programs and posts them on the Internet. And so on, the list goes on.

Of course, there are harm or negative aspects in the Internet space.

Let's say for inexperienced user For a person who does not understand the issue, it is difficult to determine the quality of the information presented on a particular issue. It can be completely illiterately presented, false, and people can believe it. For example, this can be encountered when a person is looking for information about a disease and its treatment.

The fact that the Internet makes communication easier can also play a negative role. For example, a person is very tense, with big problems in communication can completely move to the Internet space and reduce the number of contacts with people in real life. Contacts with strangers are facilitated and these can be dangerous contacts. It is impossible to know for sure who is really communicating with you.

On the Internet, children may have access to information that adults protect them from in everyday life. I'm talking about porn, violence and other things.

Eat Online Games, which are very addictive. And the Internet is simply a very seductive environment. I pressed the button and immediately received an answer, a result. It is difficult for a person to control himself, many spend an unreasonable amount of time on the Internet, it gets sucked in, and some really important things are put off. Instead of going for a walk, the teenager sits at the computer, ruining his eyesight and posture. You can even commit a crime on the Internet, become a hacker, for example.

There are people who believe that children should be prohibited from using the Internet; perhaps they focus only on its disadvantages and forget about its advantages. To prohibit a child from going there at all means to deprive him of an important part of modern life.

At what age can you allow your children to use the Internet?

It seems that this decision depends on the parent's attitude. There are parents who adapt the world to their child. And there are those who adapt the child to the world.

If we are trying to create “greenhouse” conditions for a child, to protect him from dangers by only limiting his movements, communication, introducing censorship from the Internet, etc., then we are trying to adapt the world to the child. Or rather, we are building a special world for him. But it’s impossible to control everything, and sooner or later the child will encounter the real world. But he has no idea or ability how to behave in this world. That's when some trouble can happen.

Therefore, from the point of view of child psychology, the most important thing is that the child has certain internal qualities with the help of which he can benefit from the Internet and avoid harm and dangers. And he certainly must have experience on the Internet and search skills necessary information, communication skills are there, otherwise he will not be a full-fledged member of modern society.

It's like on a playground, you can get hurt there too, or meet a pervert. But a child who understands and knows that it is dangerous to touch glass and should not approach strangers will get the maximum benefit from playing with other children in the yard, avoiding dangers.

What qualities does a child need to have in order to use the Internet safely and benefit from it?

Let's think about what these might be personal traits, as well as at what age, they can be formed so that a child can be allowed into the Internet space.

Firstly, this is a certain development of intelligence. So that the child understands how everything works there, where to look for what, and knows how to write and read at a minimum. Accordingly, preschoolers do not meet these criteria. We take into account that the peak of development intellectual abilities in a child falls between the ages of 8 and 12 years. And the need to learn something in depth and additionally will appear around this age.

Secondly, the child must have a certain level of development of moral qualities and ethics. He must understand what is good and what is bad. He must take these norms “inside.” Because there is a stage in the development of morality when children focus only on the outside world. They behave well only when adults are around, and when there are no adults, they can break the rules. Therefore, to prevent a child from surfing porn sites and other sites not intended for children, he must be at this stage. Her children reach 10 to 13 years of age on average.

Thirdly, the child must have the ability to control his desires and impulses in order to be able to tell himself “stop” and not surf the Internet endlessly. The older the child, the greater his level of control is normal.

Based on these thoughts, I would allow my child to use the Internet from about 10 years old under adult supervision. It is not access that needs to be limited, but freedom of search at this age. There are special children's social media. Why not, if the child has developed the above qualities, then he will cope.

Well, a teenager can already use the Internet like an adult, the only thing is to limit it in time so that it does not harm his psychological and physical health. Strict restrictions for a teenager can cause a backlash, “the forbidden fruit is sweet” or protest.

To summarize, I would like to say that trust in your child and what you have invested in him plays an important role here. Because from a certain moment the child begins to gain independence, and you can no longer protect him or influence his behavior. Only what you put into it before works.