Cyber Safety for Kids Online

Community Coffee by Tech Hub South Florida

Right now, people are fighting the good fight to keep kids cyber-safe while online.

Today, Tech Hub South Florida hosted a virtual Community Coffee “Best Practices to Online Safety for Kids,” moderated by Nikki Cabus, the interim CEO at Tech Hub South Florida.

I am inspired by this group of cyber warriors seeking to make children safe from criminals and predators while using their cell phones, smartphones, tablets, or computers.

Here are a few salient points made by each panelist:

• Sarah deBoer-Hjort, the Founder & President at Necessities for Children, highlighted the importance of a computer science education for all children — overcoming the digital divide experienced by underprivileged children and teens (who lack devices) — as the demand for computer science expertise in the job market continues to grow.
• Patrick Craven, the Executive Director at the Center for Cyber Safety and Education explained the inaugural Cyber Safety Day in Southeast Florida on October 27, 2021 – using the Garfield comic strip created by Jim Davis to teach kids cyber safety. He suggested that parents and teachers utilized their free videos and useful information on cyber safety — for all age groups, kids, teens, adults, and seniors.
• Glen Pounder, the Chief Operating Officer at Child Rescue Coalition, addressed the need to navigate the online space (e.g., with an online driving license) as we see an increase in child predators, an increase in screen time by children, but no such pattern of increase regarding legislation to protect online users (e.g. user-generated content).

Furthermore, Nikki Cabus mentioned how keyboard warriors sometimes become emboldened in cyber-bullying — with one child bully escalating into multiple bullies online.

Lessons Learned

• Finding the right balance between parental controls and corporate responsibility for online safety is no easy task.
  •  The concept of parents using digital devices as substitute babysitters while they are working puts the onus on parents.
  • At the same time, legislation that places the onus on companies providing online platforms (e.g., via a duty of care) is lacking.
• The digital footprint is as important as an actual footprint (which means that it is everlasting).
  • Age-appropriate conversations with kids can go a long way – without creating a sense of fear for them.
  • Tread cautiously when using hashtags to share photos online because criminals may share them as well.
  • Reconsider using real-time posts with geo-locations that reveal your whereabouts to criminals.
  • Take the long-term view. Hiring managers conduct Google searches on job candidates. In the future, your children could face hiring challenges based on their historical online presence.

Takeaway

Cyber safety for children is an ongoing, collaborative effort between parents, teachers, students, non-profit organizations, law enforcement – and society as a whole — fighting the good fight for kids online.

Featured image (top) by Mary Taylor from Pexels