At what age should you consider allowing your child to join social media? Most social media platforms require children to be at least 13 to create an account. Your child may not be ready at 13, but that’s OK. Here are some things you should consider to determine your child’s readiness to have social media accounts.

Risks of Joining Social Media

Many risks come with having social media that can make parents rightfully weary. Some digital predators can take advantage of your child’s innocence. If your child’s account isn’t set to private, they can gain suspicious followers who may leave inappropriate comments or send messages to your child.

This is dangerous for many reasons, and you should educate and warn your child of all the dangers they might face when they have an account on social media. You can never completely eliminate a photo from the internet once it’s posted. Ensure your child knows how pictures and posts can come back to haunt them in the future, like when applying to jobs or colleges. Online predators are everywhere, so educate your child on how to identify and block exploiters and what not to post on their socials.

Social media can also negatively affect your child’s mental health. Regardless of how old your child is, limit their screen time and monitor how it’s impacting their emotional development. Too much social interaction online can make children feel more isolated and alone, leading them to feel depressed and socially anxious.

Cyberbullying is also a prevalent and genuine concern for parents. Your child may even develop unrealistic expectations of body image from the things they see on social media.

Prepare Yourself and Your Child

There are a few things you can do to prepare yourself and your child for when they are ready to have social media accounts. If you think your child is too young now, ensure they understand why they aren’t ready. Discuss an age limit after which they’ll be ready, and give them something to look forward to so they don’t go behind your back.

Discuss the risks of social media and help them understand the consequences of dangerous behavior. Set boundaries and rules for your child’s online presence. Ensure you know how to use the platform they want to access so you can show them the ropes. Keep all location features turned off and show them how to set their profile to private. You can set parental controls on most platforms to supervise your child’s account until they are older.

This might be an excellent way to compromise and give your child the opportunity to show you they can be responsible online. Set a good example on your own profile, too, and ensure your child knows that you trust them and are monitoring them for their protection, not to invade their privacy.

You may also want to evaluate your own technology habits. Many adults struggle with having a healthy relationship with technology. According to one study, 76% of Americans said they check their email and messages while on vacation – a time when they should be focused on making memories with their families.

When kids see their parents constantly checking their phones, it can set the wrong example and lead them to pick up the same habits. If you can’t go an hour without checking your social media accounts, how can you expect your kids to stay off them?

How to Gauge the Appropriate Age

What age is appropriate for kids to join social media? Although many platforms have a baseline age to create an account, every child’s journey is different. There are many risks to consider, but your personal preference as a parent is the deciding factor. If you’re curious whether your child is ready to join social media, consider taking these factors into account.

Is your child open and honest with you? Will they share information and come to you for help with issues they might experience online? If you have open lines of communication, you will be more likely to trust them with an online presence. Do they come to you with other problems they face? Are they respectful and do they follow other rules and guidelines you have set in your household?

What is your child’s perception of body image? Do they have a healthy relationship with their body? Does your child have an understanding of cause and effect? Do they display abstract thinking that can help them consider the consequences of their actions? If you and your child have open lines of communication, have a healthy body image, and are good at following rules and guidelines, it might be time to let them create an account if you’re comfortable with it.

Joining Social Media

Parenting comes with some hard decisions – and deciding whether your child is ready to join social media is one of them. If you believe your child is old enough and mature enough to trust them with an online presence, discuss the risks and prepare them the best you can. You can learn and grow while finding ways to encourage your child’s social life without social media. If it doesn’t work out, you can always revoke their right to have an account until they’re a little older and wiser.

Author bio:
Cora Gold is the Editor-in-Chief of women’s lifestyle magazine, Revivalist. She strives to live a happy and healthy life with her family by her side.

Follow Cora on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Teachers are underpaid — a fact that many of them face when they set out into this career. The lack of funding and value placed on their profession are the glaring reasons why educators continue to grapple with the measly pay they get every year.

But even if they are not properly compensated for the work that they do, many teachers still choose to stay in their field simply because they love teaching. This passion and dedication are also what drive them to be creative to make more money and save it for a rainy day.

If you’re a teacher who wants to alleviate the financial burden that comes with this profession, consider these seven ways to do just that.

Online or In-person Tutoring

The simplest way for teachers to make extra money is to tutor. It would be easy for educators to venture into one-on-one tutoring since it involves the same skill set you use for classroom teaching. The only difference is that tutoring focuses on one student and doesn’t follow a strict curriculum.

Tutoring is also less demanding since you only have to meet an hourly minimum and allows you to work whenever you can, especially when it comes to online teaching jobs.  What’s more, this side job can help you improve your teaching skills based on the experiences and interactions that you will encounter.

Write a Reference Material Online

Want to share your knowledge about a subject you’re teaching with other educators or students? Write a book about it! Specifically, an eBook or a publication made in digital form.

This sideline allows you to hit two birds with one stone: helping other people learn while increasing your income. The greatest advantage of writing an education or reference material in eBook form is that you don’t have to worry about finding a publicist for it.

There are a variety of online platforms that allow you to upload and sell your work on your own and at the price you want, with some deductions going to the platform.

The difficult part of this venture is the writing process, which could take weeks or months to finish, and the marketing phase. Still, releasing reference material online is a good way to make passive income since the reference eBook will likely sell itself once more people come across it.

Be A Freelancer

Like tutoring, freelancing also offers the benefit of having a second source of income and allowing you to work whenever you can. The difference is that being a freelancer lets you do other things aside from teaching.

If you’re good at writing, then you can take up the side hustle of producing articles and blogs. Your video and photo editing abilities could also come in handy in this field since a lot of companies and individuals are looking for creatives that have these skills.

Turning your creative hobbies into side jobs allows you to improve your non-teaching craft while also helping you generate additional income.

Teach Summer School

If you don’t have any summer plans lined up and want to pull in some extra revenue, consider signing up to teach in summer school. The pay depends on your location; some might pay more than the normal rate, while others might give just the same as a normal school day.

The great thing about teaching in summer school is that it only lasts for a few hours and the classes are usually smaller. It also presents the opportunity for creative teaching, wherein educators can diverge away from the curriculum and teach the material however they see fit.

Use Teacher Discounts

Take advantage of discounts given to teachers during the back-to-school season and the World Teachers’ Day celebration. Retailers usually offer markdowns during these times, especially for school supplies.

Some shops even give year-round discounts for educators. Search for these markdown sales online and cross-reference them with their original prices and other stores to make sure you’re getting the best deals.

Organize School Fundraisers or Donation Drives

Fundraisers and donation drives can supplement the school’s budget for extracurricular programs, supplies, and even facility upgrades. With this financial addendum, you won’t have to use a significant amount of your earnings for school-related expenses, resulting in your ability to save money for yourself.

While it seems difficult, teachers meet a lot of people through their profession, thereby connecting them to potential supporters within their communities. These people — students, parents, and other teachers — will be more than willing to help out when you reach out to them through a fundraising or donation drive.

Track Your Expenses

Another practical way to save money is to stay on top of your expenses. Doing so will help you review your spending habits and determine where you can cut back. Keeping track of your expenses also makes it easy to apply for reimbursement or tax deductions wherever they are applicable.  You can use this free tax calculator to get a better idea on how certain deductions will impact your overall tax return.

Final Thoughts

The fulfillment that comes with teaching isn’t always enough to supplement the low pay that educators receive every year. That’s why many teachers turn to part-time jobs to compensate for that insufficient income. With that said, consider the opportunities listed above to make extra money for their personal and teaching needs.

Internet security is all about the safe use of the internet and any online activity. Going online gives you access to a wide array of information and services. Unfortunately, it also opens you up to vulnerabilities that can be used to attack your data. Internet security prioritizes addressing these vulnerabilities before they become an issue.

Global cyberattacks increased by 42% in the first quarter of  2022, compared to the previous year. These attacks have affected nearly every industry, including education, healthcare and manufacturing. The basis of these attacks is various vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure. There is a clear need to implement better internet security protocols against such attacks.

The Risks to Internet Security

Understanding the security protocols you need to implement starts with knowing what risks you are facing. This is the first step to making the internet safer.  Some of the biggest threats observed this year include:

IoT vulnerabilities

The interconnected nature of devices over the Internet opens them up to greater risk. The Internet of Things (IoT) can be used as a gateway to gain access to a network of devices. Malicious agents can use this access to retrieve sensitive information from the cloud. With more businesses turning towards IoT technologies, it is likely to become an increasingly serious cybersecurity risk.

Cloud security breaches

By 2025, over 100 zettabytes of data will have moved to cloud storage. The increasing adoption of cloud computing has focused more attacks in this direction. Cyberattacks for cloud storage often focus on account takeovers or a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, which locks users out of their data.

A more sophisticated version of this attack uses domain name system (DNS) amplification to attack. DNS vulnerabilities are exploited by turning small queries into much larger traffic, which overwhelms servers and causes them to crash.

Ransomware attacks

Ransomware attacks are becoming increasingly common in recent years. The first half of 2022 experienced over 236 million ransomware attacks, a substantial increase from the previous year. Losing data access and the financial burden of such attacks put a great strain on business operations. If they last long enough, they can put the entire business in jeopardy.

Maintaining Internet Security

Given the potential for attacks, your priority should be to try and secure your system and connections the best way you can. Some of the necessary steps to maintain and manage online risk include;

DNS solutions

IoT device vulnerabilities can be countered with DNS security. IoT devices need to be secured and managed to reduce the risk they pose to the rest of the IT infrastructure and the organization itself. DNS solutions offer secure communication, which limits the spread of risk via connected devices.

An effective application of DNS solutions is to limit access for IoT devices. Using query filtering, a “whitelist” of allowed domains can be created that allows access by these devices. Only a DNS request for an explicitly allowed domain would then be entertained.

Antivirus protection

Antivirus software goes a long way in offering internet security. When set to run automatic scans, any files you access online undergo scrutiny before they are accepted on your device. Antivirus is the most basic defense against malware, virus and other malicious agents.

Such software can also run in the background to offer protection in real time. The point to remember is that a comprehensive security protocol needs to go along with any security software you use. For example, regularly updating your software ensures it is functioning well and can defend against new forms of attacks and viruses.

VPN technology

A virtual private network (VPN) connection ensures the security of the connection between your device and the internet. It serves a two-fold purpose. First, as data passes through an encrypted tunnel of sorts, it disguises your IP address. Therefore, your location cannot be divulged based on the address in the event of an attack.

Secondly, it offers protection against external attacks. It is able to establish secure connections as you interact with services online. With a VPN, you can keep information hidden, making it harder for malicious agents to launch an attack against you. Rather than protecting your system from an active threat, it simply makes you a difficult target.

Network security

Network security solutions and protocols are designed to keep your online activity safe. It is a comprehensive system that considers every aspect of vulnerability on the internet and seeks to protect your system against it. Such solutions not only protect your system from external attacks but also ensure internal security is maintained to counter potential vulnerabilities.

Multiple levels of protection ensure the system is resistant to attacks. Information is broken down into multiple parts, rather than being transmitted as a whole. Each part is then independently encrypted and then shared over separate communication paths. This type of security is a preventative measure against potential vulnerabilities in the system.

Ensuring a robust cybersecurity framework is essential as you navigate online risks and threats. For organizations looking to manage their attack surface optimally, Intruder’s guide to ASM tools gives insights on managing digital assets and vulnerabilities effectively.

Use Strong Passwords

What Makes a Strong Password?   A password should be long. Use at least 12 characters. Use upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters.

To help you remember, use a passphrase that implements the use of various elements but means something to you when you read it.

Example of a passphrase: Within your long password you can used words like great, but spell it like Gre@t.   Or write the word sun like $un

Finally, never use an old password. And make sure each of your logins have it’s own unique password.  This protects against credential stuffing, which is when a scammer who has learned your user name and password on one of your accounts tries the same combination on all of your other accounts.

Conclusion

Internet security is an increasingly relevant concern. Greater business reliance on remote work and cloud-based solutions may offer new opportunities, but it has also opened new vulnerabilities in business systems. With the increasing risk of cyberattacks and ever-evolving types of attacks, it is more important than ever for businesses to adopt an internet security protocol.

Implementing a comprehensive network security system can counter a lot of system vulnerabilities. Businesses can employ many other methods, such as DNS solutions and VPN technology, to ensure their business remains safe and secure, and ready to deal with potential attacks.

Many children are now obsessed with online games. One of the trendiest games that you may be hearing about is Roblox. Tens of millions of users around the world have fun with this digital platform.  No doubt, Roblox multiplayer game is helpful for kids to build a community, learn creative things, and get entertained.

However, there are some risks involved that every parent should be aware of, such as cyberbullying, exposing inappropriate content and online predators.  Roblox is yet another platform that parent must be serious about to keep kids safe from imminent dangers while they play the game. Luckily, you can limit their activity and monitor whom they are chatting or playing with by activating Roblox parental control.

So, let’s review why and how to activate parental control features on Roblox.  We’ll also explore the potential benefits and dangers of the Roblox game.

Roblox Basic Explained

Roblox is an online platform for children and teenagers where they can play games and create anything they imagine using Roblox Studio. This blocky, cartoon game is developed and released in the years 2004 and 2006 respectively. David Baszucki and Erik Cassel are the founders of this game.

Roblox is a free and open-source game that you can download instantly for any type of device. Users can choose their favorite avatar (player), as well as shop outfits and accessories by spending the ‘Robux’ virtual currency. And Roblox Premium is available with more features.

According to a Roblox report published on February 22, they have more than 55.1 million daily active users mostly children and teenagers. And their estimated revenue is between $204 million to $207 million per year.

What Are The Benefits Of Roblox?

Here are some of the benefits that kids acquire from playing Roblox games.

• Makes children imaginative and creative
• Develops problem-solving skills
• Improves social skills
• Develops designing, programming, and many other skills
• Provides lots of entertainment

What Are The Potential Dangers Of Roblox?

Besides lots of benefits, there are some disadvantages of the Roblox game that you should take into consideration.

• Spending lots of time on screen make kids addicted
• Have cyber security risks
• Some content features violence
• User-generated games may contain adult content, inappropriate languages
• Players buy game items using the virtual currency ‘Robux’. If kids get a chance to spend money online to purchase things, they might misuse it.

Are Parental Controls for Roblox Necessary?

Roblox game has some risks for children, especially cyberbullying. Many parents complain about inappropriate content. So, parental control is a must to keep kids protected from online predators while they play Roblox games.

It features a parental control menu that helps to limit the activity of kids’ online games. This also allows monitoring of what the kids are doing in Roblox. The next section will explain the way to activate parental controls on Roblox.

How To Set Roblox Parental Controls

The process of activating parental controls on Roblox on the web and smart devices is quite different but the main thing is almost the same in both cases.

The steps are as follows:

Step 1: Set Up Account Properly

The first thing parents should do is set up the account correctly. Be sure you register with the right date of birth and name of your child. According to the age of the kids, privacy and security are designed in the game. When users play games online, the level of the games will also be offered depending on their maturity.

If your child has already registered a Roblox account, you need to log in there. If you don’t know the password, hit the forget the password button. Now correct the information if kids open the account with the wrong name and age.

You can change it by entering ‘My Settings’ and then the ‘Account Info’ section. Both web and phone will allow doing that. Put a verified email address and select the right gender. Also, choose a strong password combination of numbers, and symbols with capital and small letters.

Step 2: Activate Parental Control

You will find the ‘Parental Control’ menu under ‘Settings’. Here you have to set a parental control pin ‘Parent Pin’ first. Put a 4-digit pin and enable it. Also, select the age limit from the ‘Allowed Experiences’ option. There are 3 different age selection options:

• 13+ (Suitable for ages 13 and older)
• 9+ (Suitable for ages 9 and older)
• All Ages (Suitable for everyone)

So, choose the right age according to your kids’ age.

Step 3: Set Roblox Privacy Settings

From the privacy setting option enable the ‘Account Restriction’ option. After that turn off the ‘Communication’ option. And from the ‘Other Settings’ select ‘No one’ for all available sections as shown in the image. So, the parental control on Roblox is now activated in the game.

Summary

Roblox is a popular interactive game for children and teenagers.  Still, cyber security and privacy concerns is a major concern for parents. However, if you activate the Roblox parental controls with proper online privacy settings, your kids will be able to enjoy the benefits of any gaming app with the most harm reduction possible.

Of course, parents should continue to be diligent to remain active in monitoring and limiting their activities. This can be done by checking in with you child regularly.  However, installing third  parental controls   Whenever you get any notifications, review them soon and act accordingly.  Also, limit their play time so they don’t get addicted to the game. And educate your children about online bullying.

• Explore parental controls for Android devices
• Review the best parental control apps for iPhone