Adjust privacy settings and use parental controls on your internet games, apps, social networking sites, and electronics. Review games, apps, and social media sites before downloading or using games with children.
Know what potential dangers there are and how to handle them so that your children enjoy using social media, online games, and the Internet safely. To give yourself the best possible chance at helping your child stay safe, learn about all of the different types of games kids play online. Educate yourself about ways to be safer on social media, so that you can provide your child with the best recommendations.
Talk about ways for your children to be safe on social media, including talking with a trusted person if they are concerned, and know what constitutes online bullying -- as both the offender and the victim. Openly talking about your digital media and Internet usage, and encouraging your children to do the same, will help your children feel like they can talk to you if they are having bad experiences online. If you are able to speak with your child openly and without judgement, he is more likely to speak with you if he comes across anything troubling online or has a bad online experience.
If you are ever involved in any kind of messaging or online chat room activity that makes you uncomfortable or unsafe in some way, leave immediately and talk with your parent or another adult so that they can report it. Kids should talk to a trusted adult to make sure they understand the risks of the internet, only communicate with people they know, keep their online accounts private, block people they do not know or trust, and trust their instincts: If something makes them uncomfortable, tell a trusted adult. Tell kids to avoid sharing personal information, photos, and videos online on public forums or with people they do not know in real life.
Do not share personal information by using their real names or the place they are from in their user name - it is bad form to use their full names in user names or by saying their personal information aloud over their headphones, there are lots of ways that something could slip out by accident when playing video games online. You can use the computers Parental Settings to ensure that your kids personal information is seen only by the people that your kid wants to share it with, or control your kids games. This can include blocking your child from playing some games that might have some unsuitable content, or playing unsupervised games on the Internet.
For mobile devices, you could configure them to forget their WiFi passcode, so that your child cannot get online unnoticed. Getting access, though, can be tricky when it comes to kids playing games online. This means that players who are no longer playing games online may have closed their accounts, but they still hold private information, either on the internet or with the games company. That way, if you are ever in a conversation you are not comfortable having, you can leave without worrying about someone knowing your screen name and being able to track you through emails.