CRIMESTOPPERS.NS.CA 13 3. SPEND TIME WITH THEM ONLINE Create opportunities for your child to have safe and positive online interactions with friends, family and you. Connecting with others can be an excellent opportunity for you to model kindness and empathy in virtual interactions. Help your child recognize and avoid misinformation and disinformation, age-inappropriate content and content that can potentially cause anxiety or other harm. Introduce them to trustworthy sources of information. Children can be exposed to advertising that may promote unhealthy foods, gender stereotypes or ageinappropriate material. Help them to recognize online ads and use the opportunity to explore together what is wrong with some of the negative messaging you see. Spend time with your child to identify age-appropriate apps, games and other online entertainment. Be alert for apps that may have harmful content or pose privacy risks. 4. MODEL HEALTHY ONLINE HABITS Promote positive online behaviour by practicing it yourself. Be mindful of the example you set and what you share online about your child, including their photos and videos. Encourage your child to be kind online and to support friends and family by sending positive messages or emojis. If they have classes online, encourage them to be respectful of others and to be mindful of what can be seen on camera to maintain privacy. Be alert if your child appears to be upset or secretive with online activities. Reassure them that experiencing abuse or harassment is never their fault and they shouldn’t keep it a secret. Familiarize yourself with their school’s digital learning policies. Seek out local helplines and resources for the latest issues in keeping children safe online and how to report cyberbullying or inappropriate content. 5. LET THEM HAVE FUN AND EXPRESS THEMSELVES Spending time online can be a great opportunity for your children to be creative, learn, use their voices to share their views and support causes that are important to them. Encourage your child to use resources on the internet to help them get up and get moving, like online exercise videos for children and video games that require physical movement. Remember to balance online activities with an active lifestyle and offline recreation for a healthy balance in all aspects of life. unicef.org Uijol!cfgpsf !zpv !BDDFQU! Before you accept a friend request you should have a look at their profile – and try to see who they are. Do you have friends in common? Are you from the same town? Don’t feel pressured to accept random friend requests. Sometimes people pretend to be someone they are not, and it’s hard to know if they are telling the truth. Image by Freepik
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