Tips for parents in a digital era

GARDEN ROUTE | KAROO NEWS - While allowing children access to cellphones has many benefits for
parents, it also has the power to ruin a child’s future.

This is according to social media law expert Emma Sadleir of the Digital Law Company, who is the co-author of Selfies, Sexts and Smartphones: A teenager’s online survival guide, written with neuroscience expert Dr. Lizzie Harrison.

Sadleir believes children should only be given cellphones at the age of 13. However, before any child is given a phone, their parents need to educate themselves about social media, internet accessibility, and how to protect their children.

Sarah Hoffman and Pam Tudin, co-founders of Klikd, which provides parents and children with cyber safety tools, say that parents should ask themselves the following questions before handing over a smartphone:

How accountable is my child to him/herself?
Can they support others who are being treated unfairly or unkindly in real life?
How do they manage their schedule and are they in a good sleep cycle, getting up and going to bed at the set times?

We’ve compiled five tips by the Digital Law Company and Klikd for keeping your children safe from cyber dangers, be it on a mobile device, PC or laptop.

Educate yourself: Parents should inform themselves of the risks presented by the apps their children are using. The most used apps in South Africa are WhatsApp and YouTube, but other popular apps among teens include Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter. The Digital Law Co offers online courses on the dangers of social media; ‘parenting the screenager’; what university students need to know about social media; and the legal, disciplinary and reputational consequences of social media.
Educate your kids: Parents should make their children aware of social media risks.
- Employeehealthsolutions.co.za lists the following important topics:
  - Teach them to be wary when talking to strangers online –
  - they shouldn’t assume people are who they say they are.
  - Talk about being selective - don’t allow just anyone to follow you on social media.
  - Discuss cyberbullying.
  - Talk about sexting, which is viewed as child pornography if intimate images depict children younger than 18.
  - Discuss social media addiction. After doing extensive research on how tweens and teens learn, Klikd developed an app that covers everything from managing tricky people online, to cyberbullying, online reputation and phone addiction. It also offers practical tools for parents and schools on new apps, social media trends and critical cyber safety issues.
Set up privacy control on the device and social networks: Enable maximum privacy settings on devices and make a point of regularly checking privacy settings on each social media network. Consider device-management apps like Google’s Family Link app or Apple’s Screen Time app, which allow the setting of daily limits, restrict content, implement night-time downtime, live location tracking, approval for app purchases, app limits and other features.
Establish a smartphone or digital device contract: Agreeing to the terms of a contract with your child is one way to raise awareness of how things can go wrong and set out some fundamental ground rules and expectations. Find templates of digital device contracts on thedigitallawco.com and klikd.co.za
Have open conversations about social media and online activity: Talk to your children and get to know the apps they are using, even if it’s out of your comfort zone. By understanding the platforms, you will help create a safe space for your children to talk to you, should things go wrong. Teach your children the ‘billboard rule’. Unless what you are about to type or post is something you can post on a big billboard with your face and full details on it, do not post it at all.