This is the era when children are born with the ability to understand and use technology efficiently even without any formal training. Most of my friends tell me that they turn to their children for any doubts regarding the internet/ computer or mobiles. It is really very fulfilling to see the grasping ability of kids and – here is a hi-five to you (virtually of course) for being so smart. As kids, you are an expert in playing games, using social media on mobiles and computers and some of you may even be operating your own email ids. I remember getting my first yahoo email id at the age of 22 and wondering as it was getting made, how much the bill would be in case I asked for one more email ID. Such was the state of affairs then, but we have come a long way and it is not uncommon to see children with 4 to 5 email ids to suit their different circles, school, apartment, family, and so on and so forth.
This article is a bit different from the other articles in this blog since I wish to emphasize the factors that you need to keep in mind as you take the digital path.
Interesting though it may seem it is very important to ensure that you conduct yourself appropriately on the internet too. Internet etiquette and safety – This is the topic that I wish to touch upon today with you little ones.
Just as we have learnt proper etiquette in our day-to-day lives, we also need to ensure we follow some rules and mannerisms on the internet as well. Let me summarise a few here for you to ponder upon.
- The safety and privacy of you, your family, and your friends come first and are most important. Make sure you do not upload or reveal information about you, your preferences, your whereabouts etc on the internet especially on non-trustworthy sites. These could be asked directly by such web sites or camouflaged as innocent questions that make you divulge such details on the web. Remember that these could be used by goons to harm you and your loved ones. Why risk it anyway?
- Remember that the innocent 10 year old you may be chatting to on the internet need not be a child. It could be the fake identity of a grown-up criminal too. There have been various instances of children innocently talking to whom they think are kids and reveal their details and ultimately end up being harmed by crooks who pose as children on the internet.
- Keep your parents or guardians updated on your internet activity especially whom you interact with. Remember that they are the ones going to stand up and protect you always.
- Do not leave your passwords lying around for others to access. At the same time be innovative in ensuring your password is complex enough not to be hacked by people or bots trained to do the same. After all abcde or 123456 are passwords that can be hacked in no time, not to talk about the ones who use their name or date of birth as a password.
- The thumb rule in the digital world is to speak your mind only and only when you see that you or someone could be harmed by your not doing so. Are your comments, feedbacks really needed? Do you want to invite trouble upon yourself by falling for this need to speak your mind especially on public forums? No hate or humiliating statements should be left as comments. You would only trigger an avalanche with people bombarding with counter comments and the situation mostly goes out of control in no time.
- Alert or report to a grown-up when you spot any suspicious activity. Do not take things into your own hands. There is more to the internet than what meets your eye.
- On gaming sites, do not reveal your name, and other personal details to other co-players or anyone else thus risking yourself.
- Do NOT disclose information on your whereabouts, your parent’s bank or card details on any site without your parent’s supervision.
The list goes on and on but it does help to keep this in mind as you explore the internet responsibly. Stick to the basic internet etiquette, remain safe, and enjoy.
To read more about cyber security and etiquette:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSx7MBIOnW4
