Digital Safety for Families: How to Help Teens Stay Secure Online

Parents of teenagers know first-hand just how daunting the internet can be. 

When you’re responsible for a young adult, it’s only natural that you do everything you can to keep them safe – all while maintaining boundaries for their privacy and independence. It’s a delicate balance for anyone, but it’s worth learning how to get it right.

Focusing on approachable and realistic digital safety is a brilliant place to start. With time and patience, all parents can guide their teens towards safe browsing habits.

Know the risks

Young people are more exposed to online risks than ever before. And with 95% of American teenagers now owning a cellphone, they are tech-savvy too.

While they deserve the freedom to explore, this also comes with a huge array of potential consequences. These could vary from mild concern to something that causes significant stress and anxiety. For teenagers using the internet, a few of the most common types of risk include:

• Content: Exposure to violence, hate speech, self-harm and pornography is unfortunately highly likely.
• Cyberbullying: Often through social media, teenagers can become victims of online harassment from peers.
• Online predators: Pedophiles sometimes pose as young people online to groom or exploit teenagers.
• Addiction: Excessive internet use can severely affect mental health, disrupt sleep and distract teenagers from their daily lives.
• Physical health: Late nights spent on the internet contribute to sleep deprivation and excessive sedentary behavior. 

Encourage open conversations

Helping your teenagers to use the internet safely starts with open conversations, not just setting rules. With trust and mutual understanding, you can create a healthy communication system. This should involve no suspicion and no micromanagement.

Try to discuss the risks in a realistic but approachable way. The most important part is making sure that your teenagers know how to be proactive in keeping themselves safe. That could involve using private social media accounts, only contacting people they’ve met in real life.

Use the right tools

You’ll need to build a toolkit together and choose wisely, as getting this right will only build trust between you and your teenager. There are plenty of browser extensions available, so you’ll need to choose the most appropriate for your household.

To keep your personal data safe as a family, using a free VPN for iPhone and desktop computers could be a good starting point. This will encrypt your browsing, preventing malicious intent. 

Don’t be tempted to use parental controls, especially if they track search history and sites visited. While you might feel more in control, it’s inevitable that your teenager will find ways to get around it. And if they’re punished rather than supported, they may start to feel insecure and resentful.

Setting safe boundaries together

Finally, don’t forget to work as a team. 

Try to adopt family-wide practices like screen time limits and routines, making sure to dedicate evenings to quality time spent together. Nothing that’s possible through a screen can replace the importance of real-life connection and conversations.

Shared learning will make you stronger as a family. Take time to talk about the risks and work out a plan to stay safe and responsible together.