Archives - Family Safety

How to ensure a safer online experience for your family

Managing the online presence of your children can be challenging. Many kids quickly become fascinated with devices like tablets and use them to play games or watch videos. These activities can be beneficial for helping them learn new concepts and keeping them occupied throughout the day, but there’s some degree of risk, too. It’s useful […]

First-Time Student Laptop Safety Checklist

While phones and tablets have become the go-to computing devices for many students, the laptop still has an important role to play. Any assignments requiring a lot of typing or working with complex documents such as slide decks or long PDFs, are usually better suited to the laptop’s unique capabilities. Many laptop models now even […]

Be involved with your child’s online activity

Think about activities you can work on together, whether it’s playing a game, researching a topic you had been talking about (e.g., family vacation spots, a hobby, a historical figure), or putting together a family newsletter. This will allow you to supervise your child’s online activities while teaching them good computer habits.

Why has cyberbullying become such a problem?

The relative anonymity of the internet is appealing for bullies because it enhances the intimidation and makes tracing the activity more difficult. Some bullies also find it easier to be more vicious because there is no personal contact. Unfortunately, the internet and email can also increase the visibility of the activity. Information or pictures posted […]

Dealing with Cyberbullies – avoid escalating the situation

Responding with hostility is likely to provoke a cyberbully and escalate the situation. Depending on the circumstances, consider ignoring the issue. Often, bullies thrive on the reaction of their victims. Other options include subtle actions. For example, you may be able to block the messages on social networking sites or stop unwanted emails by changing […]

Consider implementing parental controls for child safety

You may be able to set some parental controls within your browser. For example, Internet Explorer allows you to restrict or allow certain websites to be viewed on your computer, and you can protect these settings with a password. There are other resources you can use to control and/or monitor your child’s online activity. Some […]