Keep Kids on the Safe Side

So  the other day I turned on the Safari internet on my iPad.  I noticed that a child of mine had been surfing the internet for “Spy Kids 2” (the Disney movie).  We have pretty strong rules at our house about kidlets searching through the internet unsupervised.  My kidlets know they cannot search on the internet without me or My Man by their side.  They can play games that we have selected and bookmarked for them.  But no surfing.  This includes YouTube. {You can read my post about the dangers of YouTube for children HERE}

Anyway, so I started asking my kidlets, “Who was searching the internet for Spy Kids 2?”

“Not me,” Sweet Tween quickly replied.

“Not me,” Little Son said.

Then a little voice next to me spoke up.  It was Baby Girl who said, “I did it. I was looking for the movie so I could watch it.”

Whaaat? My Baby Girl?  Baby Girl was searching the internet! She’s 5 years old!  She typed it in! I started to think about if she knew what that little Safari icon was.  But it doesn’t matter . . . she’s figured it out somehow.  This is her world.  She will never know life without instant internet access.  She’s seen us use it a million times by now.

It got me thinking about children and media again.  How scary to know that a 5 or 6 year old kid can easily search the internet.  In a matter of seconds, they can access whatever is out there.  The could spell something wrong or click on the wrong thing in only a few seconds.  

So here’s a reminder for you (AND ME) to put better controls on our media devices! Don’t leave them laying around (like I did) left open for them to find stuff!  Don’t underestimate your smart child!

Teach your children about the dangers of the internet.  I have an awesome video that does just that The Safe Side – Stranger Safety: Hot Tips To Keep Cool Kids Safe With People They Don’t Know And Kinda Know
.   It’s part of the The Safe Side company and the movie was made by John Walsh of America’s most wanted and Julie Clark of Baby Einstein videos.  The movies are funny, zany, and not too scary.  They inform kids about safety in a way they can totally understand without freaking them out.  I also highly recommend their The Safe Side – Internet Safety
 video.  You can buy them at Amazon or iTunes.  (P.S. I REALLY like these videos for teaching children.)

Here’s a clip or two:

  

The thing that makes these different is they teach about 1) Strangers you don’t know 2) People you kinda know 3) People you and your parents trust.  It’s explained very well.

So basically, let’s keep our kidlets safe. Let’s pay attention to them.  Let’s teach them about the dangers out there and give them rules that will protect them.  I hope this helps someone!

 ABCmouse.com offers great educational games for your children. They also have free apps.  Another way to provide safe computer use for your children!