{"id":4369,"date":"2021-10-10T06:09:29","date_gmt":"2021-10-10T06:09:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/how-to-protect-children-online-without-using-tough-rules-and-reprimands"},"modified":"2021-10-10T10:41:47","modified_gmt":"2021-10-10T10:41:47","slug":"how-to-protect-children-online-without-using-tough-rules-and-reprimands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/how-to-protect-children-online-without-using-tough-rules-and-reprimands","title":{"rendered":"How to protect children online without using tough rules and reprimands"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Mauritius<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Established the same year Facebook was founded (2004), Safer Internet Day has become a fixture in schools, teaching children how to safely navigate an increasingly complex online world.<\/p>\n

With much of the world in some form of lockdown, this year\u2019s Safer Internet Day will be different. Parents must take it upon themselves to guide their children to wiser internet behaviour.<\/p>\n

This is no easy task. As Rooha Foroohar argues in her book \u201cDon\u2019t Be Evil\u201d, big tech firms such as Facebook have \u201clost their soul\u201d since they rose to prominence a decade ago.<\/p>\n

Parents agree. A recent poll found that three-quarters of parents of children aged 13-17 think that social media companies put profit ahead of promoting social good.<\/p>\n

And while the internet \u2013 now more than ever \u2013 is our children\u2019s portal out into the wider world, the list of risks, such as cyberbullying, misrepresentation, inappropriate content, online abuse and grooming, is long and growing.<\/p>\n

The way to help children stay vigilant against these risks, despite their using social media and internet technologies for many hours a day, is through helping them develop what I call cyber-wisdom.<\/p>\n

It involves cultivating confidence in your children in how to make smart choices at important moments online \u2013 without strict discipline or overbearing supervision.<\/p>\n

Practical advice<\/b><\/p>\n

Parenting in the digital age is challenging. Several years ago, I completed a PhD on the influence of the internet on children, and I continue researching in this field to this day.<\/p>\n

Yet when my daughter got her first smartphone last year, I felt as though I knew nothing. What I knew felt overly theoretical, when what I needed was practical advice and simple guidance.<\/p>\n

My journey to show how theory and research could inform simple parenting tips is the basis of my latest book, Thrive. Given the challenges of researching the effects of the internet on children\u2019s lives and wellbeing, I turned to moral theory.<\/p>\n

What does it take for kids to do the right thing online? I, and others, have found that rules are pretty much absent online \u2013 and, even when they are present, young people find ways to get around them.<\/p>\n

Likewise, young people find it hard to think about the consequences of their online interactions. So instead of carrot-and-stick parenting, try to cultivate cyber-wisdom to help children make better judgements about how to stay safe online.<\/p>\n

Cyber-wisdom is the ability to do the right thing, at the right time, when no one is watching. A survey by Yonder Consulting with parents shows that wisdom is the virtue that parents are most keen for their children to show online, with 56% of parents choosing this as one of their two virtues when presented with a list of eight.<\/p>\n

Five tips to cultivate cyber-wisdom<\/b><\/p>\n

To encourage children to behave wisely online, I suggest parents follow the React model when introducing children to the internet. R stands for ground rules. These include rules about when children can access the internet and for what purpose.<\/p>\n

Establishing rules about from the outset is recommended by child health experts, but you should aim to remove the rules as your children learn to self-police.<\/p>\n

E stands for exemplar. Good behaviour is more likely to be observed and copied rather than taught. What we do matters because it shapes what our children do.<\/p>\n

We must model the character and wisdom that we hope our children will develop. Once you\u2019ve created that exemplar, you\u2019ll be able to grant your children greater freedom to experiment online themselves.<\/p>\n

A stands for the role of adviser. An adviser is a form of teacher, but one that is a co-constructor and partner in learning \u2013 rather than dictating lessons.<\/p>\n

Reduce your role as a rule-maker and become more of a coach, mentor and supporter. Our children, in their experimentation, might not get everything right, which means we must find ways that help them learn from their online actions.<\/p>\n

C stands for character. We need to ask our children about when they feel their character has been tested online \u2013 like when they witness cyberbullying on social media.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll know you\u2019ve succeeded when your children make autonomous, critical judgements and choose the right character quality to show at the right time. T stands for thrive.<\/p>\n

If we can successfully make and enforce ground rules, be an exemplar, be an adviser, and be a character champion, then we will help our children thrive online, making the most of our generation\u2019s greatest tool.<\/p>\n

In many ways, the internet has been the unsung hero of the COVID-19 pandemic. It\u2019s helped teachers and parents to provide an education for their children, even when they\u2019ve been forced to learn remotely.<\/p>\n

At the same time, it\u2019s impossible to ignore the internet\u2019s darker side. On Safer Internet Day, it\u2019s our responsibility as parents to be explicit, conscious and reflective in how we choose to usher our children onto the right path \u2013 both online and offline.<\/p>\n

And that starts with cultivating cyber-wisdom \u2013 carefully building trust and responsibility rather than placing the emphasis on rules and expecting our children to follow them. Tom Harrison Reader, School of Education, University of Birmingham<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. Established the same year Facebook was founded (2004), Safer Internet Day has become a fixture in schools, teaching children how to safely navigate an increasingly complex online world. With much of the world in some form of lockdown, this year\u2019s Safer Internet Day will be different. Parents must take it upon themselves […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":4368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,9,16],"tags":[233,245,241,910,909],"class_list":["post-4369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-miscellaneous","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-mauritius","tag-mauritius","tag-protect","tag-reprimands"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to protect children online without using tough rules and reprimands - Mauritius<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Established the same year Facebook was founded (2004), Safer Internet Day has become a fixture in schools, teaching chil ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/how-to-protect-children-online-without-using-tough-rules-and-reprimands\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to protect children online without using tough rules and reprimands\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Established the same year Facebook was founded (2004), Safer Internet Day has become a fixture in schools, teaching chil ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/how-to-protect-children-online-without-using-tough-rules-and-reprimands\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mauritius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-10T06:09:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-10T10:41:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2021\/10\/img-6162c32659ff0.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"559\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/how-to-protect-children-online-without-using-tough-rules-and-reprimands#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/how-to-protect-children-online-without-using-tough-rules-and-reprimands\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"How to protect children online without using tough rules and reprimands\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-10T06:09:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-10T10:41:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/how-to-protect-children-online-without-using-tough-rules-and-reprimands\"},\"wordCount\":877,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/how-to-protect-children-online-without-using-tough-rules-and-reprimands#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2021\/10\/img-6162c32659ff0.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Mauritius\",\"Mauritius\",\"protect\",\"reprimands\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"miscellaneous\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/how-to-protect-children-online-without-using-tough-rules-and-reprimands#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/how-to-protect-children-online-without-using-tough-rules-and-reprimands\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/how-to-protect-children-online-without-using-tough-rules-and-reprimands\",\"name\":\"How to protect children online without using tough rules and reprimands - 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