We put sunscreen on them and teach them to look both ways. Online safety deserves the same attention and usually gets less. Kenya has one of the highest rates of internet use in the world, and a growing number of children are online without anyone watching. They get a lot out of it. They're also exposed to:
- Scams and other criminal approaches.
- Content they shouldn't see, and harassment from strangers.
- Gambling and gaming built specifically to be hard to stop.
Here are six things that help. None of them need software you have to buy.
1. Talk about it, and keep talking
From the day they start using the internet, ask what they're watching, reading and who they're talking to. The trick isn't having the conversation once. It's still having it when they're fifteen and would rather you didn't.
2. Keep screens where you can see them
With younger children especially, put the computer somewhere shared. Not so you can loom over it, but so what's on screen is part of the room rather than hidden in a bedroom.
3. Set up parental controls once
An innocent search can return something that isn't. Browsers, phones, game consoles and most internet services have restrictions built in. They take about ten minutes to set up and then look after themselves.
4. Know who their online friends are
Adults assume people online might be lying about who they are. Children often don't. That instinct has to be taught, and teaching it early works better than any filter you can install.
5. Turn off location sharing
Most apps and phones tag photos and posts with where they were taken. That can lead someone straight to your child. Switch it off, and explain why, so the habit sticks on devices you haven't set up yourself.
6. Cover social media specifically
Make sure they know how to report a post, block someone, and lock down their profile. Make sure they know they can come to you when something feels wrong, without being in trouble for it. And talk about bullying from both sides, because children are sometimes the ones doing it.
The aim isn't to frighten them off the internet. It's to make sure they can get the good out of it and spot the rest coming.
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