By: Sameer Hussein & Margaret PatonThe Internet is a great way to teach kids. But it can also expose them to cyberbullying (or worse) and teach them things you, as a parent, would rather they didn’t know.

The Australian Institute of Family Studies has found that 97% of Australian households with children aged under 15 have access to the Internet. Each home has an average of seven electronic devices connected and 99% of 15-to-17-year-olds are online.

So, how do you balance the Internet as a vital yet dangerous resource that can ensnare kids at school, home and on the move on their smartphones?

Isn’t it schools’ job to teach kids about the risks?

Your child will learn about digital literacy at school. That covers digital tool knowledge, critical thinking and social engagement.

Digital literacy is important, even UNICEF recognises it as a central element of the skills children need for school, work and life. But it says most existing tools cater for adults, not children who have unique needs.

For instance, children need to understand digital technology even if they’re not online. Examples are artificial-intelligence-based profiling as well as facial scanning that children will encounter. As for social media and apps, we’re slowly realising their impact on children. Research on this technology’s long-term effects on them is in its early days, says UNICEF.

With this glaring chasm, parents simply can’t leave all digital literacy ‘education’ of their children to schools. It’s a constantly changing area. After all, as UNICEF says, digital literacy programs should be context-driven. Your responsibilities come in when your children and teens use their connected devices out of school.

Whether or not your children learn cyber safety information at school, there’s one place parents can go to get the gist of what’s being taught. Chances are their school has tapped into the Federal Government’s eSafety portal. The resource is run by the Office of the eSafety Commissioner, an independent statutory office. It also runs free webinars for parents and carers on the latest strategies to help children stay safe online.

The portal also has updates on emerging tech trends and challenges, such as decentralisation, anonymity and identity shielding, immersive technologies, online harmful sexual behaviours, sexual extortion, doxing, deepfakes, end-to-end encryption.

Security is a strong theme among those trends. Prompts you to think: do you invest in security for your physical assets, your house, car, etc, the same way as you do for the Internet in your home. Common sense says you’d secure your homes and belongings from public access, so why not your home networks from unauthorised access, intrusions and threats?

Your cyber superpower: parental control settings

Harnessing parental controls will depend on your child’s age, how much maximum time you want them to be online and which services they use. For example, you may let them surf the Internet at a certain time after school. But streaming/gaming services such as YouTube or Xbox may be restricted until their homework is done. Most parental controls allow you to set schedule-based daily maximum time limits and give insights into your child’s usage habits.

It’s worth the effort to set up parental controls on your children’s electronic devices, apps, or devices. Even better, on your NBN connection via your router. You’ll be able to block, filter, monitor and set time limits. Find out how to take the reins via our tips below and the eSafety Commissioner’s website.

There are options for hardware-based devices you can connect to the router itself. It gives parents many features to help keep children safe online. Circle is one such hardware device that connects to the home network. While it isn’t short of features, it can be difficult to use. It will help ensure your children are safe online though.

Another example is FamilyZone. They’re an Australian company that offers an excellent subscription-based service for parents to control their children’s devices and what content they’re exposed to. They also have a hardware device that connects to the home network. This emits its own Wi-Fi, which a child’s device can then connect to, and includes safety features and restrictions that is configured by a parent or caregiver. You can set these via a very simple-to-use app installed on your smartphone or tablet. FamilyZone’s guides are simply and clearly written to help parents work out the best configurations for their family’s needs.

However, parental control tools are only one part of your arsenal. They can never be 100% effective. You’ll also need to support your child in building solid online safety habits. If you feel your requests are going in one ear and out the other, check out the Child Mind Institute’s tips on giving effective instructions. The key is to set limits and explain them, encouraging your children to discuss them with you and ask their own questions. Do they really understand the reasons behind the rules? It’s important to get your kids onside as a simple web search can show kids how to bypass some parental controls. Build understanding, enforce your rules consistently.

Spotlight on child safety apps

Are child-safe apps and social media platforms such as Facebook Messenger Kids and YouTube Kids worth their mettle? Parents will still face the challenge of prolonged screen use, inappropriate content and online violence. You might recall Frances Haugen, the former Facebook staffer who turned whistleblower on her former employer, saying its response to child abuse was “inadequate”. She accused Facebook of not knowing the full scale of the problem of child abuse material because “it doesn’t track it”.

Elsewhere these challenges have been addressed. Companies such as Apple, Microsoft and Google have provisions for managing families, with great features such as managing screen time, requiring permission for installing apps, and restricting online content.

If you use a PC or Android device, consider opting into While this is useful, it is quite easy for a tech-savvy teen to override the system to make themself an administrator.

As well, Amazon and Netflix also have some very useful features on their platforms. Freetime is an Amazon service that contains books, videos, movies and TV shows for kids, as well as some useful parental controls. Netflix also has a cool feature where you can set up a ‘kids’ profile. It allows you to restrict their viewing to PG-only content, while parents can use a PIN to unlock the unrestricted profiles.

What are the potential risks of letting kids surf the Internet freely? In short, a deluge of scams! An online scam is either a false-promising site/notification/email, app, product or service offered from/on the internet.

Intruders you’ll never see

Scammers and hackers can easily hitch a ride via your home Internet system. All it takes to compromise every device on the home network is for a family member to open an unrecognised app, access questionable websites/emails or allow remote access to an unverified caller.

This can bring in viruses/malware, ransomware and trojans, which can open the entire home network to cybercriminals. They can then access financial information, passwords, identification and other personal data that could destroy entire families and hold them hostage. This horror can happen from a child’s innocent access to online devices.

Look out for these types of scams

Scammers target the unsuspecting, such as children. This puts them at even greater risk, as they’re less likely to pick up on the scam as it progresses. Children online are in constant danger of scammers, even while in the safety of their homes. The next time you get a scam email or phone call, share those details and your thoughts with your child. Ask them if they think it was ‘scammy’ or not.

Scams include:

• Phishing – fake websites that make you think they’re from a legitimate company such as a bank so you enter your login details and they’re able to ‘hack’ into your account. They may also be a website offering downloads to legitimate apps and services, but actually have links for viruses and infection programs. Do your due diligence by checking the URL of a site
• Email – Be suspicious if an email that looks like it’s from a legitimate source asks you to click a link to resolve an issue. You could be one click away from planting a virus on your device. Double-check -. Does the recipient’s name match the actual email address?
• A false traffic infringement/fine that looks like it is from a legitimate roads and traffic authority
• A parcel awaiting collection from the domestic postal service
• A large payment that has gone through, that the victim is unaware of until they receive the scam email
• Advertisement – an ad on a site, app or online marketplace that looks legitimate but redirects its victims to products/services that don’t really exist or work. Examples include simple medical tips/tricks to cure everything, too-good-to-be-true bargains for products and services
• Ads for schemes involving huge financial gains needing minimal or no effort (more difficult to identify)
• Non-reputable third-party apps – they’re typically installed on a device when you install an app you have opted for/ While there are many reputable third-party apps, scam apps have false claims about their functions/services, and instead will compromise a victim’s devices. Avoid this risk by simply checking online reviews about the apps, actually reading through the installation process to ensure that no other third-party app is also installed. It could as easy as unchecking the tick-box requesting that third-party app’s installation. For example, a trojan on a scam third-party app can open a ‘backdoor’ into the victim’s device for the scammer to remotely access it.
• Another scam is a security app that captures and transmits a victim’s usage and personal data to the scammer while claiming they’re providing security against viruses/malware/hackers.
• False security/maintenance apps or callers that falsely claim a victim’s device has multiple threats/issues, and requires cleaning/rectifying as long as you pay.
• Scam phone calls – Scammers that state false claims to their potential victims, claiming that they need to get online and follow their instructions (over the phone) to resolve issues with their devices, online bank accounts or internet service provider. They’ll probably ask you for instant payment and if you refuse, will claim your service will be cut off.
• Competitions that may ask you for a lot of personal information and get you thinking: why do they need all of that information?
• Social media scammers who claim to be someone that they’re not. This is probably the most dangerous form of scamming for everyone, but more so for children. This is referred to as ‘catfishing’, and in extreme cases has resulted in physical abuse, extortion and death.

Help is at hand

There are simple and effective solutions to boost online security for you and your family – think security suites, also known as antiviruses.

When children go online, they like to search for games and entertaining material, but often wander off to websites that are infected with viruses and malware. This can slow down their devices and the entire home network. Therefore, it’s crucial to have a security suite intervene before their device is exposed to a virus or malware threat.

Security suites are software for real-time protection of a device from viruses and malware. A common misconception is that they’re only needed for Microsoft-based computers. However, our technicians have resolved virus and malware issues for many clients with Apple and Android-based devices as well. We advise our clients to go for robust protection, not freeware.

Bitdefender is an example of a robust suite of security applications. It protects against viruses and malware, as well as against intruders. Bitdefender has a state-of-the-art firewall app and a site-blocker to prevent access to a known malicious website as well. For parents, there are also options for virtual private network (VPN) and a secure browser for online banking. The setup is quite hassle-free and will ensure that your family’s devices are protected.

Check out routers and firewalls

Routers and firewalls are an integral part of setting up a secure network. They allow data to travel in and out of our home networks securely. But what are they?

A router is a device that allows different networks to communicate with each other, such as the home network with the internet. In short, it tells the data where to go, kind of like a navigator offering directions. Generally, the home router will also be the connection point of all home wired and Wi-Fi devices.

Meanwhile, for home networks, a firewall is a device that permits authorised data traffic to move between the home network and the outside internet. It also protects the home network from unauthorised access to the home network from the internet.

The typical home router has a firewall with basic settings. However, to ensure your home network is protected properly, it may need additional configuration, or a better grade of router-firewall combo.

Some readily available devices contain parental controls. They provide additional functionality to control what online services our children have access to. Some examples include Asus, Netgear and Torch.

A tailored solution to your unique family set-up

Here at Little Computer People, we install and monitor many different parental control apps and devices. To help us better understand your family needs, we have two simple questions:

• Does your child use a single or multi-platform device?
• Have you analysed your child’s use of tech before you choose a parental control method? If they generally stick to phones or tablets, you might only need a mobile solution, such as one Apple offers. However, if they have multiple platforms (Apple, Microsoft etc.) you’ll need something more compatible across those platforms.

Speak to our technicians about how we can help you set up features and parental controls so that your child surfs the internet safely. You also need to talk to your children and express the importance of keeping the network safe. Ensure they understand how to prevent scammers from entering their life.

As a parent, there’s a lot on your plate. If you feel overwhelmed about protecting your family from online dangers, we can help.