The Changing Landscape of Child Safety
In the 80s, there used to be a popular Public Service Announcement to ask – It’s 10pm, do you know where your kids are? In those days, the danger was perceived to come from outside the home.
These days, the question, I reckon should be changed to – The kids are home in their rooms, do you know what they are doing online?
The New Digital Dangers
According to a survey released by MCI in Feb, 1/3 of youths surveyed play online games with strangers frequently, they also experience vulgarities, violent content and bullying online, but only 3 in 10 parents are fully aware of who their child is gaming with and the full extent of the child’s experience.
Recognizing Online Grooming Behaviours
In my course of work, I see clients who are targets of online grooming activities where they are being shaped to go from regular chatting to sexting behaviours to explicit images. The entry point could be as innocent as playing games together or through tutoring videos on the games.
5 Tips for Protecting Your Kids Online
Without creating a bogeyman, here are a few tips to help you protect your kids online:
1) Build a trusted relationship with your kids so that they know that they can discuss openly about their activities online – that you are not policing them but looking out for them.
2) Have the conversation with your young ones about digital footprints and sharing personal information online. Predators can piece small pieces of innocuous information together to create a target profile.
3) Keep an eye out for unusual expenses such as gifts, or expenditure that they cannot afford or account for.
4) Look out for any secretive activities on and offline, such as meeting up with their online gamer friends in less regular places.
5) Keep an eye out if your child is having frequent interactions with an older/adult gamer online or if they start to use explicit/sexual language beyond their years.
Written by Juliana Pang, Psychotherapist, Belief Psychotherapy & Training.
♦ Check out these Self-Screening Questionnaires that help one to screen for symptoms of problematic behaviours relating to Gambling, Internet Gaming and Alcohol Consumption.
