With the announcement of the red code in public health and the transition of education to the online environment, children and adolescents are facing their own difficulties in the digital world. Thus, the pandemic has placed a psychological burden on the shoulders of children and students, who have been constantly exposed to a lot of information and a lot of anxiety caused by the online environment.

In this article, we come up with simple steps to guarantee the safety of children while they use their favorite platforms and applications.

Time spent teaching your child about online threats can pay off in terms of protection against online criminals, cyberbullying and dangerous attacks:

Secure access to Wi-Fi networks by Internet service operators;

Develop options for filtering and restricting harmful and illegal content for children, taking into account existing legal provisions that could be proposed as an optional service to parents by the Internet service provider;

Ensure the privacy of online accounts by changing privacy settings and ensuring that only friends and family can see your child’s profile information;

Emphasize the importance of ignoring friend requests or messages from strangers and encourage limiting the amount of information and media (photos and videos) shared online;

Review app permissions and settings and help set strong, unique passwords for all online accounts;

Talk to your child about online threats, including pop-ups and fake ads, phishing emails, text messages, or fake calls;

Teach your children to always report suspicious activity or accounts and inappropriate behavior, and encourage them to never give out sensitive information, such as their phone number, physical address, or school name, to anyone they meet online.

There is no magic bullet to ensure a quality and safe digital landscape during a health crisis. Due to the lack of options, it may seem impossible to reduce the time children spend in front of screens. However, balancing a healthy online social life with offline activities that help your child build or improve their skills can make a big difference. Despite the pandemic, children need a way to help them get back to their normal routine and be encouraged to enjoy and feel good even when they are not using digital technologies and platforms.