Cyberbullying is a type of bullying that occurs over digital devices. This can be anything from a smartphone to a computer. Through these devices, cyberbullying can take place via text message, SMS, social media platforms, apps, or gaming forums where people can openly share content.
Cyberbullying often involves posting, sending or sharing harmful and negative content about the person who is being targeted. This can include sharing private information that can serve to humiliate or embarrass. Some cyberbullying can even constitute criminal or unlawful behavior.
With the prevalence of online forums and spaces for cyberbullying to take place, it’s inherent that you would like to protect your children. While the internet is a limitless space, there are steps to take that ensure your child is a lot safer when they use it.
Let’s take a look at ten reasons why using parental control for your children is not optional.
1. Kids Have Trouble with Boundaries
With children and teenagers especially, they often have a difficult time understanding boundaries and the consequences of their actions.
This is because their brains aren’t completely developed yet. They may not be aware that their behavior online could be making them vulnerable to issues like cyberbullying.
It’s challenging to teach children boundaries in real life, but online it’s even harder. This is because a lot of the time children have a ‘secret life’ online where they make decisions away from their parents. Online strangers are encouraging this behavior who have overstepped the boundaries and made their way into your child’s life.
When your child or teenager is too young to comprehend online boundaries, it’s important to implement them on their behalf. This can help to keep them safe when they are online.
2. Depressing Content Can Lead to Depression
If your child uses the internet a lot and is exposed to cyberbullying either by being bullied themselves or witnessing it happening to someone else, they’re going to see a lot of depressing content.
Cyberbullying is among a growing list of depressing content that’s online. Unfortunately, children having access to this type of material doesn’t make them feel better about themselves – it makes them feel worse.
The more they are exposed to harmful content like cyberbullying, the more they may end up internalizing it. This may also increase the likelihood of them taking part in this type of behavior, too.
3. Gaming Isn’t Always so Innocent
While gaming can be a fun, interactive way for your children to meet new people who have similar things in common, it can also be a place where destructive behavior is bred.
A lot of the time, interactive online games have forums associated with them. This means that your child can openly talk to anyone else playing the game at the same time. It is surprisingly easy for someone to access this forum and act out aggressively towards your child or someone else.
It’s important to regularly check forums like this and consider restrictions around when and how your child can access them.
4. Support or Backup is Essential
While you may think that making your boundaries clear is enough, often it’s not. It’s all well and good to tell your child the rules and hope they follow them, but there is a good chance that they’re going to break them from time to time.
This is one of the biggest reasons why parental control is not optional. While educating your children on the dangers of the internet is an important conversation to have, it’s also important to include a system which can step in to prevent boundaries being broken before it happens.
5. Your Child Will Use Other Devices
It used to be a lot easier to monitor your child’s activity on the internet. When there was just the computer monitor at home, this was the only place that you had to set restrictions.
These days, kids are exposed to multiple different devices, from tablets and smartphones to even school laptops.
Using a phone monitoring system can help eliminate this issue as it can be applied to multiple devices, so you can track your child’s internet usage even when they’re not at home.
6. You Can’t Always Monitor Them
No matter how vigilant you may be, the reality is that you can’t always monitor them.
As mentioned above, there are going to be times when your child has access to the internet, and you can’t be there to restrict it. Whether it’s when they’re at school or even when they’re at home after school, and you haven’t made it home from work yet, there are multiple scenarios where your child could use the internet without your guidance.
This is why it’s a good idea to use a phone monitoring system, that can take your place when you’re absent.
7. You’re Worried About a Virus Attack
As much as you educate your children on the risks of the internet, they could still end up stumbling into a virus or malware. If your child is a bit younger, there’s a greater chance that they will come across a warning page that they will click on anyway.
These types of attacks on your computer and smartphone may also give children access to parts of the internet they shouldn’t see, which could increase their risk of cyberbullying. With a phone monitoring system, malware and potential viruses will automatically be filtered out.
8. You Have an Older Child Who Can Get Around the Filters
Older children are just as susceptible to cyberbullying than younger children. In fact, they may be more susceptible to it because they are more likely to try and get around your filters.
Using a phone monitoring system to can help you stay one step ahead of your child and make sure that inappropriate forums and chats are being filtered out, despite their defiance.
9. You Want More Control Over Your Child’s Phone
While you may think that your child is most vulnerable when they’re on the computer, think again. Because their smartphones carry an unlimited number of apps, this is actually where a lot of the cyberbullying can occur.
Most social apps include chats and group messages that your child can be a part of. This immediately exposes them to the risk of being cyberbullied, and if there are more than two people in the group chat, the risk can be even higher.
Using a phone monitoring device is a great way to implement those all-important boundaries, even when your child is just using their phone. This way you can make sure they’re not becoming a part of groups chats that could compromise their safety and well-being.
10. Your Family Has a Busy Schedule
Cyberbullying is a serious issue, which means that it’s essential to have a conversation about it with your child regularly. However, the reality of life is that it’s busy, which means there’s not always time to be checking the chat groups that your child is a part of.
With a phone monitoring system, your child can be protected from anti-social and aggressive behavior without you checking up on them all the time. While it’s good to scroll through their group chats now and then to make sure they’re safe, it’s also recommended that you implement a system that can filter out dangerous behavior.
Final Thoughts
In a perfect world, you would be able to keep on top of your child’s internet usage and know exactly what was going on all the time. Webwatcher is a tool that can help you with ultimate parental control.
However, life just doesn’t work this way. There are multiple scenarios your child could find themselves in that could result in them being exposed to cyberbullying.
With a phone monitoring system that utilizes parental control, you can rest assured that the risk of your child being cyberbullied is significantly lower.
