Useful Tips to Protect Your Child’s Health from Internet Exposure

Due to the shift of studies on online platforms, children are on screen more than ever before. Besides, many latest websites and apps have intrigued the kids to another level. In this scenario, the surveys have disclosed that daily internet usage can escalate the isolation, loneliness, and anxiety in kids.

Therefore, many parents like you are concerned about the too much time their kids are on the Internet. So, what will be your next step? First of all, start noticing your child’s behaviour – are they becoming compulsive? Then, try and understand whether or not they are facing any physical problems or mental issues.

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We thought of both the issues and listed six tips to help you protect your child’s health from Internet exposure.

Spell out the perils:

By this time, you must know the fact that children do not go by rules. They hate lines starting with ‘Don’t do this’ or ‘Don’t do that’. Whenever you say not to do this, they might go further and do the same. Therefore, you need to guide them politely about how to use the Internet wisely.

You can tell your children that do not fall for every advertisement as not all are genuine. Explain them with a reason by saying they threaten you to pay money and steal your identities. Also, guide them as to whose friend requests they should accept on Facebook.

Fortify their self-worth:

As soon as children enter their teenage, they become body-conscious. On top of that, they watch pictures of celebs and models on social media and begin to compare their bodies with them. As a parent, you should go ahead and explain the reality behind those pictures, as many are photo shopped.

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Instagram selfies and reels have become a ‘new normal’ for all of us, especially teens. Your children can tempt to post several pictures on social media accounts for the sake of receiving excessive likes and comments. That can be a sign of a lack of self-worth. So, check whether or not your kids are threatened online and boost their self-worth.

Follow them on social media:

You can do a lot to make your children, particularly your teens, walk on the right path. Online classes have left no other substitute but the Internet. Hence you need to know about their actions, which can be possible by keeping an eye on your child’s laptop or smartphone all the time. Rather than stalking them, become their friends on social media.

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For many parents, this is a non-challenging method to know about your children’s life. That does not mean you should restrict them from everything; doing this might force you to take a wrong step. Without breaching their trust, guide them as a friend, not a parent.

Allow Internet browsing in a specific location:

Unfortunately, no matter how secure your home computer and smartphone are, they can make a way out of it with Incognita. Therefore, it becomes very significant to keep an eye on everything they do with these gadgets.

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To let it happen, set up your computer or other gadgets in a central location of your home. But that should not be your child’s room if you are not present there. Whichever location you are selecting, make sure that you can any time step into the room and view their screen easily.

Make changes in their privacy settings:

As you will be guiding your children throughout, you can adjust their privacy settings on social media. For instance, on Facebook, you can put their profile on private rather than displaying it on the public. Even Google Chrome and other browsers have protection settings.

Furthermore, Windows and Mac have some settings in which parents can create their children’s accounts. Likewise, there are various other settings that you can adjust for your kid’s privacy; you merely need to Google it to get more information. And before providing them computers, laptops, mobile phones, or tables, change their privacy settings.

Keep an eye on their eye issues:

Well, above were the tips for handling your children’s mental health and some extent, their security purposes. But, what about their physical health? That is equally vital. Also, we all know the excessive screen-time induces multiple problems to anyone’s eyes.

Short term effects could be eye redness, strain, discomfort, excessive blinking. Additionally, a cracked screen can also make it difficult to read the content on a smartphone. So, either repair or replace your smartphone. Plus, excessive use of smartphones can also lead to sleep deprivation as they cannot cope with overtiredness. Hence, set the screen time for your children and check their sleeping and waking-uptime.

The above-listed tips can help you protect your children from the over usage or misuse of the internet. But how will you know that you are too late to do it? Here are the three signs which will indicate that your children are addicted to the internet.

Spending too much time:

Browsing websites when no one is around.
Staying online for a longer time than intended.
Awaken all night to stay on the web.
Keep on lying about the amount of time spent on the internet.
Defies to follow the rules set on the screen time.

Emotional changes:

Suddenly gets irritated when denied to give internet access.
Gets angry when you interrupt them while online.
Feels depressed and becomes moody when you take away the internet access for some days.

Engrossed in their online world:

The online world becomes their real-life than family.
Abandoning school homework and other vital work for being online.
Frequently logging in into their social media accounts throughout the day.
Builds bond with strangers online.
Have no interests in the activities they used to do previously when online.

A Goodbye thought!

Internet addiction is one of the other habits that are harmful to your kids. It is a way to get an escape from the real world. For the time being, their online life may suppress their feelings and depression but not for a longer time. Those can en-route to supreme issues in life.

Therefore, consider the above information and make efforts to keep your child away from internet exposure. If merely screen time is the critical cause, then lessen it. But if it is worse than that, then your child needs help.

Author Bio:

Hello everyone, I am Ariana Mortenson. I am a professional writer and blogger. I write on various niches in a way that it’s understandable and appealing to the people which allows you to make informed and valuable choices.