A Parent's Guide to the Digital World

There are many concerns in a parent’s mind about the online activities of their kids. Bullying, online theft are some common dangers online. There is a lot of risk from online predators, especially those who spend a lot of time trying to slip into children's lives. According to a study, 46% of children between the ages of 10 and 17 have given their personal details to strangers. Such statistics indicate that many children have been unknowingly chatting to people who can be a threat to them. As parents, if you know the early signs of online grooming, you will be able to protect your children online. But, let's get to know about it in detail. So, here is all you need to know about online grooming and how to protect your children from it. What is online grooming? It is quite similar to how kidnappers befriend kids, lure them into the vans with candy or chocolates, and kidnap them. Except in online grooming, people trick and befriend young children online. It then leads to the bully pressuring them and sexually abusing them online. How to notice the signs? It starts when a predator initiates and tries to build an online friendship with a child. It then results in sexual abuse that includes the following things in most cases: • Taking sexual photos and sending sexual texts • Sextortion and trafficking Online grooming is a very gradual process. Predators plan and take tiny steps to build a friendship with children and gain their trust. They appear kind, but they are very manipulative, and they hide their true intentions effortlessly. Target Predators target vulnerable kids, the ones who are fragile emotionally, and the ones who have less parental supervision. The initial interactions are very friendly, including light convos and other tricks that will make the child feel important. The platform can be a social media site or even the chat section of a game. Engage Predators will often try to fill the child's needs or small wishes, like attention. They also flatter them by complimenting them, buying them gifts, and listening to what they have to say. You have to beware if your kid receives gifts from a stranger, especially if it is an electronic device because the predator can use it to exploit them. Boundaries The predator will try to strengthen the relationship with the child. It will involve asking bizarre questions like the child's parents' reaction upon hearing about the relationship and the frequency at which parents monitor the child's activities. When children start answering these questions, the chances are that they will become isolated and become discreet about their online activities. Parents should be looking out for these things very cautiously. Sexualize Many predators try to meet the victim in person. Similarly, others try to carry out their activity online. They start talking about sexual activities and may even mention explicit sexual details that will make the child uncomfortable. It also leads to other heinous things like showing them pictures of other minors to make it look okay. These things will give the child more information about sexual activities than necessary. It is highly inappropriate. Usually, this is the point where predators begin to ask for sexually explicit videos of the victims or send their videos to them. Control When a predator starts the sexual abuse of a victim, they will make sure that they control everything and the child depends on them emotionally. In most cases, the predator will blame and threaten the children to keep them from saying anything. You have to let your kids know that they can always come to their parents for discussing anything. What to do to protect your kids? 1. Children, irrespective of their gender, status, or other things, are targets and victims of online grooming. There are many steps you can take to protect your children from predators, and here are a few of them: 2. Educate them about the dangers online, how to spot them, and how to stay away from it 3. It will be best if you were open with them, talk to them openly about the sites they are visiting, the people they are talking to on the Internet, and the games they are playing 4. You must monitor their devices as a safety measure 5. It will help you spot the potentially harmful conversations 6. One such tool that you can use is Avosmart, and here is a little something about i What is Avosmart, and how does it function? Avosmart is the best parental control software and the first choice of many parents for online safety. You have to download it on your children's phone and your phone to access the parental control dashboard. With the dashboard, you can check all the activities of your children in real-time. The setup is one of the easiest. You need to register, download, and install it on your phones. It is available on Android, iOS, Mac, and even Kindle. Here are the top features of Avosmart: 1. Best web filters and games and apps blocking 2. Time limits for websites, apps, and games 3. Monitoring social media activities and tracking location 4. Monitoring calls, messages on multiple devices 5. Extensive and precise reporting 6. Best support and battery charge level indication?

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There are many concerns in a parent’s mind about the online activities of their kids. Bullying, online theft are some common dangers online. There is a lot of risk from online predators, especially those who spend a lot of time trying to slip into children’s lives. According to a study,…

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