Healthy Internet Tips For Children

When the internet broke into our lives, it brought us great benefits. But it is not without risk.

Although there is much talk of addiction as a problem that it brings with it, and this creates social alarm, in most cases what there is a "hook" on these new communication technologies (ICTs) - What is called a "flawed" use.

On the other hand, we are faced daily with false news (fake news) that spreads rapidly in addition to social networks, over the internet, and whose purpose is to misinformation and confuse the population.

What's So Good About The Internet?

It has enormous possibilities:

·       Access to information, knowledge of all kinds.

·       Group learning.

·       Means of communication with friends and other cultures.

·       It helps the family, family communication, by sharing knowledge, developing communication skills, enjoying as a family all that it can offer good.

·       Development of capacities through games and video games (improvement of psychomotor capacity, spatial orientation, space-time coordination, development of problem solving skills).

·       Electronic commerce Very useful on many occasions, in a controlled way.

·       Online bureaucratic procedures, which help us save time for other activities.

What Problems Can Children Have If The Internet Is Not Used Properly?

1) Abusive use, sometimes that creates dependency, and that can lead to:

Physical problems: obesity, delayed psychomotor development, musculoskeletal disorders and visual problems.

Psychological problems: isolation and social relationship problems, alteration of reality, dependency.

2) Criminal Use, with actions constituting a crime, such as insults, slander, violation of privacy (photographs, harmful websites).

New problems appear:  grooming, cyberbullying, sexting

Sexting (contraction of sex and texting) is an Anglicism to refer to the sending of erotic or pornographic content through mobile phones. It began by referring to the sending of SMS of a sexual nature. It does not hold any relationship. And the sending of videos of a pornographic nature should not be confused with the term "Sexting". It is a common practice among young people, and increasingly among adolescents.

Grooming: Also called Child Grooming or Internet Grooming. It is a type of strategy of sexual harassment of minors through the Internet. It consists of gaining their trust and later, usually through blackmail, obtaining concessions of a sexual nature ranging from an image to an in-person encounter. As it is the most widespread practice, this term is often used for all types of sexual harassment from adults to minors on the Internet.

Cyberbullying: It is the intentional and repeated psychological harassment through ICTs (mainly Internet and mobile telephony) between equals. Although it can occur between adults and minors or have sexual overtones, the term is used in a generalized way for cases in which the participants are of similar ages. It can occur both in the school environment and outside of it. The term cyberbullying is confusing because it can refer to both cyberbullying and grooming.

3) Harmful use, without apparent criminal or abusive intention (although sometimes they are), and that negatively affects children.

Harmful content: Apology for xenophobia and violence, child pornography, miracle diets, legal pornography, gore pages, manufacture of weapons of all kinds.

Commerce on the Internet: pay attention to scams on the web, by advertisements or in electronic purchases.

Harmful contacts: people who cause suffering through the Internet. Grooming and cyberbullying are two clear examples.

Tips For Safe And Healthy Internet Use

Limit use: control quantity and schedules, to respect maximum screen times (no more than 1 total hour per day in front of television screens, computer), respect for family life and meal and sleep schedules. It is good to distribute the time throughout the week, to avoid bingeing.

Use total security software programs. It is very important to be safe when sailing. Since many of these programs can violate our privacy. And steal our personal data if we are not careful.

It helps you in allowing parental control in your child while they are surfing on internet.

Learn and educate on the detection of fake news: Use common sense. The key is to comment on the news, with critical thinking. Accompany the little ones and supervise teenagers. There are a series of checks that you can easily carry out and that will allow you to confirm the veracity of information: the date it was published, if there are spelling mistakes or errors in the text, if the images are pixelated or seem retouched. Another aspect to take into account is the source of information: is it a recognized newspaper, an official web portal or a blog with few followers? If you are not sure, it is better to contrast the information with other more reliable means. Never share without ensuring that the information is true.

Limit pages, filter certain pages: There are programs that can help us filter the content we offer to our children.

Do not exclude ourselves from the Internet and try to create a climate of trust with the children regarding it. Ask them to explain something to us (for example, open a free email account), play and participate with them, to learn together, using it at the same time as an excuse to talk about it.

Monitor what they publish online about themselves, their family or other people

Family use of computers: The computer must be used by the whole family. And it must be located in a place of passage of all, especially if you have internet access. This avoids isolation. And it allows better control of what they do. At the same time it would be good if they invited friends to see how they relate.

Accompany them: Depending on the age, the precautions will be different. Young children should not be allowed to use them alone. From 10 years of age it would be the recommended age of autonomy in its use without close control.

Be alert to strange reactions that children may present after being connected to the internet.