Safe Search Kids - Education, Parenting, Internet Safety for All

If you have a child heading back to school, you have a lot on your plate. There are many things to think about as the new school year begins, including your child’s mental health. You can’t be at school with them, but you can prepare them to face any challenge. Prioritize your child’s mental health this year with these tips.

Bullying

Bullying can have serious, long-lasting effects on your child’s mental health. It can lower their self-esteem and cause feelings of rejection and isolation.

Kids that struggle with bullying can suffer from anxiety and depression, which can escalate to acute stress or post-traumatic stress disorder without proper intervention. Bullying also increases the risk of your child engaging in risky behaviors, including violence and substance abuse.

Talk to the school about a bullying situation, but also explain to your child that this happens to many kids and assure them that they’re perfect just the way they are.

You can help your child by creating a list of responses for them to give when someone says something hurtful to them. This could be a calm “Leave me alone” or “Back off.” Another good response is to dismiss the bully’s words with an “OK” or “Whatever” or laugh at the comment to reduce its value. Responding with more insults will only escalate the situation.

You can practice those responses with them in role-play scenarios so they feel more prepared when they encounter them at school. You can also help build their confidence by putting them in activities and social situations where they thrive.

Peer Pressure

Peer pressure can lead to adverse mental health effects, make kids do things they know are wrong, or encourage unhealthy thinking and habits. Negative peer pressure can lead to anxiety, depression and isolation. The stress from wanting to fit in and the temptation to do the wrong that comes from it can be overwhelming for your child.

You can help your child cope with pressure in a few ways. First, create open communication with them about any actions or concerns without scolding or judging them.

Also, be sure to teach your child to assert their boundaries and help them come up with creative solutions to get out of situations where they’re uncomfortable. Teach them that real friends won’t try to force them into a harmful activity and will respect their boundaries and wishes.

Don’t be afraid to share your experiences with peer pressure and what you’ve learned from them. Make an effort to get to know your child’s friends and their families so you better understand their environment. Encourage your child to seek positive relationships and friendships.

Organization

At first, it may not seem like being organized is in the same category as the other issues mentioned, but having an unclean environment can be a sign and trigger of poor mental health.

Taking time to declutter and organize your home helps your child start the school year off on the right foot by giving them a stress-free environment to begin and end their day. Teach them how to maintain their spaces so clutter doesn’t overstimulate their minds throughout the year.

Things scattered about your home can be overwhelming to everyone’s senses. The more items your eyes take in, the more overwhelmed your brain becomes. This increases anxiety.

Your home doesn’t have to be spotless, but having designated places for your items can help things seem more orderly and help your child’s senses relax. Planning ahead can also reduce stress.

Physical Health

Keeping your children healthy has always been a priority during back-to-school season, especially in recent years. Good physical health is closely tied to mental health  in many ways.

Missing school due to a cold or flu can be stressful for children. In addition to teaching them about good hand hygiene, you can also protect them from germs through a healthy diet. Prioritize making meals full of vitamins and nutrients that will boost their immune system.

Along with focusing on healthy food, you can also make an effort to encourage physical activity for the whole family. Going on family walks after school is a great way to boost everyone’s moods and bond together.

Social Media

Even when you closely monitor your child’s online activity, social media can still have a negative impact on their mental health.

Your child can easily fall into the trap of comparing themselves to others or setting unrealistic expectations for their life. This can lead to internalizing negative experiences and developing anxiety and depression over what they have and have not achieved.

To combat these risks, encourage your family to take technology breaks during the week. Whether you choose to do this every day or once a week, find ways for your family to spend time together without using your phones.

Parents, be sure to practice what you preach here. If you set a rule for your children not to check social media before bed, you should try to follow it, too. Not only will this set a positive example, but it will give you some relief, as well.

Prioritizing Mental Health

Prioritizing your child’s mental health helps them feel more confident and secure. You also show that you’re always there for them, no matter what the school year brings.

Help them combat peer pressure by utilizing these tips to ensure your child avoids being bullied.

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.

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Your child may be unaware of the potential dangers of social media or how it will affect them. While social media offers a platform for a child to learn and engage with others, they may put themselves at risk, especially if they are just getting started. Add to the fact there are multiple avenues for kids to engage with others online, where does a parent begin?

Given that 49% of kids between 10 – 12 years and 32% of 7-9-year-olds are accessing social media, there’s an urgent need for social media risk management. Let’s discuss how to begin a conversation on social media safety and the best way to go about it.

What Is the Right Time to Discuss Social Media Safety?

The best time to start talking with your child about social media is before they are old enough to go online and join a social media network.  Each parent needs to decide what the appropriate age is for each their kids.  If your child shows an interest in social media, initiate an honest conversation with them about what it is. Also, emphasize safe practices when handling social media.

How to Make the Most of Your Conversation

It may be an uncomfortable and frustrating experience discussing sensitive topics with your child. But the key is creating a safe space for an open discussion, and here are some tips to make the conversation go smoothly.

Don’t Lecture Your Child: Talk to your child instead of talking at them by making it an interactive conversation, and allowing them to share their thoughts and experiences. Begin with the positives of social media and create an environment where they can freely ask and discuss questions.

Ask Open-Ended Questions: Asking open-ended questions is an excellent strategy to make the conversation a two-way street and encourage your child to think and participate. For instance, asking your kid if they have experienced online bullying prompts them to share their online experience and further the discussion, which naturally leads to more questions.

Social Media Safety Topics to Discuss with Your Children

You can cover many social media topics, but start with the basic concepts during your first discussion. As your children grow older and gain more online experience, you can adjust the content and depth of your conversation to increase their knowledge. Here are some of the topics to start the conversation.

1. Start a Discussion About Types of Hacking

Teaching your kids about cyber security is one of the first steps in social media risk management. Your children may not know how to keep themselves safe from losing their identity and information to hacking because they are easy targets. Educate them on what hacking is and to look out for:

• Suspicious gift cards that prompt them to click links. Kids can overshare on social media, and hackers can use this information to create scams that sound exciting and urgent by targeting their emotions.

• Kids fall victim to phishing attempts where hackers trick them into disclosing their personal information. They may get prompts to confirm their details or earn free money from famous brands.

Hackers make these offers look real, but they’re too good to be true. Teaching your kids about these threats protects them from becoming victims. You can also encourage them to use strong passphrases and passwords.

2. Stress the Importance of Password Hygiene

Security may not be at the top of your child’s mind, and they may commit the mistake of poor password hygiene, allowing attackers easy access. The kids might reuse compromised passwords, easy-to-guess passwords, or add sequential numbers to base passwords.

Password hygiene emphasizes choosing and managing passwords securely. Teach your kids to choose passwords that are difficult to guess, create a unique password for each social media account, and avoid writing down the password or sharing it with others.

3. Educate them on Online Predators

There are approximately 500,000 predators online daily, so your kids should learn how to avoid them. Kids unknowingly post personal information, and online predators use social media to find out as much as they can about your child. These predators create an online persona based on your child’s interests and age.

Warn them that online predators can use fake photos to make them believe they are kids. So, they have no idea who is behind a profile they are interacting with. Practice social media risk management by asking them to follow the below security guidelines.

• They must not chat or share pictures with strangers.

• Never disclose their personal information, such as their home address, school, phone number, or last name.

• Limit their social media friends to people they know.

Kids must be alert, follow their instincts, report to an adult, and block or leave an uncomfortable conversation. Once in a while, look at your child’s phone. Check for any mysterious apps installed for private communication.

4. Social Media Exploitation

Teach them how social media exploitation can occur using social engineering methods. These are employed by scammers, hackers, and predators. Parents can only do so much to ensure online privacy.  Parental monitoring only goes so far.  Once a child connects with another person online, they open themselves up to a world of potential dangers.

Social exploitation methods include everything from automated spam in the form of phishing emails and exploited ads, to personal interactions with new friends and even existing ones.  However, it may be a cybercriminal mascaraing as someone the same age as your child or a friend who’s account has been compromised.  One bad link infected with malware on social media can infect multiple connections.

Start the Social Media Safety Conversation Today

Social media platforms pose a significant risk to your kids, and they are an easy target to hackers, phishers, and online predators. Educate them on the importance of social media risk management by making them aware of the potential dangers of social media and how to handle them. Let your kids know they can come to you with concerns.

There is also great peer pressure for kids to connect with friends on social media.  Let them know that combined with the importance of staying safe online, their personal well being is just as important and kids should feel free to not engage with other friends online if they don’t want to.  Or at very least, they can reduce the time they spend online.

About one in 100 children has autism, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by difficulty regarding aspects such as communication and social interaction, and the WHO further highlights the fact that those with autism may experience varying needs and abilities that can evolve over time.

For those that are unfamiliar with teaching students on the spectrum, there are a variety of different ways that a positive difference can be made. With that in mind, ensuring that the classroom experience promotes a positive learning environment is vital in ensuring a student is both comfortable and has the foundations for academic success.

Understanding challenges (and adapting)

When seeking the best ways to provide a productive learning environment for students on the spectrum, first understanding the challenges that an individual with ASD may face in the classroom is essential. Washington.edu notes that various aspects regarding school can present as a challenge, noting that social interactions, noisy environments, sensory issues, and changes in routines can all be difficult, and mentions that “The unstructured parts of the school day, such as lunch, may present the greatest challenges.”

However, because each individual who is on the spectrum has unique difficulties and needs, what works for one student may not work for the next. While it’s recommended to consult with the student and their family regarding accommodations and what may work best for that individual, there are a variety of helpful solutions that can be worth implementing in the classroom to make the environment more inclusive.

Before making alterations to a classroom, making an effort to further understand a student on the spectrum will allow you to gain valuable insight as to what might be the best course of action. Autismspeaks.org, for instance, notes that in addition to connecting with the child’s parents, making a list of the child’s strengths and understanding how they learn can play a major role in making the classroom a positive place to learn for them. The site further mentions the value in asking for help through a classroom aid, while having a behavior plan in place for instances of sensory overload can be additional ways in preparing to effectively teach those on the spectrum.

The Value in Pedictability Via Structure

Because many individuals on the spectrum thrive on structure in their daily routines and tend to have difficulties with change, ensuring that there is a sense of predictability is just one simple way to make the classroom a more inclusive environment for all. Teach for America notes that “Having predictability in the classroom eases anxiety for students with autism and will help avoid distraction. Students are less worried or curious about what will happen next and can better focus on the work at hand,” going on to recommend giving the student a schedule that can be followed.

Autism Specialty Group further highlights the value that consistency and predictability can have for those with ASD, noting that “With repetitive patterns of behavior, activities, and hobbies, children with ASD can bring stability and comfort into their lives,” further noting the benefits that stability in routine can have — including reducing stress, improving cooperation and motivation, and creating an environment of security and comfort.

Exploring Hybrid Learning Approaches

While putting a predictable schedule into place can be a great way to support students on the spectrum, exploring hybrid learning approaches can be another that can go a long way in ensuring inclusivity. For instance, due to individuality, implementing different forms of technological support can present a solution in working to find the best approach for each student.

The use of video modeling and interactive whiteboards are just two ways to do this, though the integration of other technologies, like voice dictation tools, can be particularly useful for certain difficulties like writing. While writing plays an integral part in the classroom, a summary of one study notes that children with high functioning ASD integrated in regular schools find it difficult to perform writing tasks — something that can impair academic achievements, social availability, and self-confidence, according to experts. Schools may want to consider designing custom workshops learning a hobby or task, or parents can seeking something in the community.

Making Small (Yet Impactful) Changes

For educators teaching students with disabilities, including those with ASD, there are a variety of ways that slightly altering the teaching style can make a major difference in elevating the classroom experience. Positive Action points out several different ways that this can be done — such as by making use of visual aids when teaching, keeping verbal instructions “short and to the point,” and using the child’s interests in a lesson. Keeping the sensory stimuli to a minimum in the classroom can also be a big way to help, and can be done by eliminating loud noises (like music) wherever possible.

Positive action further notes that reducing the effect of lighting can also make a difference, noting that “Some autistic people find fluorescent light distracting because they can see the flicker of the 60-cycle electricity,” and recommends diminishing this effect by either moving the student’s desk near the window, using newer bulbs, or making use of an old-fashioned incandescent lamp.

For students who are on the spectrum, the classroom can be a challenging place to navigate — especially when considering factors such as writing, a noisy atmosphere, or social interaction are notoriously found in schools. Thankfully, there are a myriad of different ways that educators can work to provide a positive and comfortable classroom environment, whether it be through the integration of technology or predictability.

Electronic devices are beneficial for many things, but one thing they don’t benefit is your child’s development. Unfortunately, many parents use electronics as virtual babysitters, so we need to shed more light on the problem. Phones, tablets and computers have proven to be dangerous devices for the growing mind of a child.

Let’s discuss the dangers of too much screen exposure and some tips for reducing your child’s screen time this upcoming school year.

How Does Screen Time Affect Kids?

According to the CDC, kids between the ages of 8 and 18 spend over seven hours a day staring at screens. Those seven-plus hours primarily consist of watching videos, playing games and scrolling through social media, with little verbal interaction.

Medical professionals have linked excessive screen time to many troubling issues:

• Lower quality of sleep
• Headaches
• Eye strain
• Shortened attention spans
• Decreased cognitive function
• Increased anxiety and depression
• Decline in academic performance
• Social and emotional impairment
• Obesity from a sedentary lifestyle

No parent wants their children to suffer from these ailments. Here are seven thoughtful ways to reduce your child’s screen time and keep them safe.

Tips to Reduce Your Child’s Screen Time

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends minimal to no screen time in children under 24 months. Between ages 2 and 5, screen time should be no more than an hour a day. You get the idea: parents need to minimize their children’s screen time as much as possible to ensure proper mental and physical development.

1.  Explain Your Reasoning

Your child might not understand or appreciate your reasons for limiting screen time, but you should explain them anyway. Break down the negative effects of electronics and how the no-screen rule will help them. This discussion should be a dual effort if both parents are in the picture. Getting another close relative involved might also help your child be more receptive.

After a few days of minimal screen time, take note of any behavioral changes. Are they more talkative or playful? Has their academic performance improved? Have they changed their attitudes about the no-screen rule? Keep the discussion going.

2.  Don’t Give Them Personal Devices

The worst thing you can do is buy your child a personal phone or tablet. They will grow attached to the device overnight. Every screen in the house should belong to the parents. Keep the passwords secret so they can’t access the devices without permission. This simple strategy prevents your child from sneaking extra screen time.

You also shouldn’t let your child make any personal accounts. Social media use has been linked to many youth mental health issues, including anxiety, depression and strained peer relationships. Besides, there are far better things your child could be doing than scrolling through TikTok and Instagram.

3.  Take Them Outside

Kids ought to be outside getting into trouble, not inside getting sucked into their phones. If your child starts complaining about the no-screen rule, take them to a playground or on a nature walk. They’ll forget about the electronics in a few minutes and find something else to do.

Children have vivid imaginations. They always come up with ideas to keep themselves entertained. Phones and tablets are too overstimulating in large doses. They give kids dopamine hit after dopamine hit, making them effectively addicted to screens and indifferent to the world outside.

4.  Put Your Electronics in Shared Spaces

You can’t trust your children to make the right decisions by themselves in any other environment, so why leave them alone with unrestricted internet access? During your child’s allotted screen time, make sure the devices remain in the living room and other shared spaces.

Don’t let your kids browse the web without adult supervision. They might make a social media account or stumble upon age-inappropriate content without your knowledge. Once they find something they’re not supposed to see, their curiosity will become harder to contain.

5. Help them Find a Hobby

Hobbies give kids a creative diversion from the use of their phones and tablets.  Many hobbies can become a life long pastimes, including photography, magic, cooking, sculpting, pottery, chess, astronomy, and building rockets with a parent. When they do go back online they can use social media to learn and connect with others who are passionate about similar activities.

6.  Start and End the Day Right

This advice goes for everyone in the house: don’t use any electronics 30 minutes after waking up or 30 minutes before bed. Let your brain power up and shut down instead of triggering a stress response by scrolling through news articles and social media feeds. Your sleep quality and overall mood will both see noticeable improvements.

7.  Coordinate With Parents and Teachers

Your child will be surrounded by screens when they go to school – not the school computers, but other students’ personal phones and tablets. 53% of American kids have their own phones by the age of 11, and that number is only getting higher. You need to coordinate with parents and teachers to make sure your child doesn’t have too much screen time at school.

Ditch the Screens, Enjoy the Real World

Our devices might be entertaining and convenient, but they can be destructive forces on the minds of impressionable children. Ditch the screens this school year and allow your kids to enjoy the real world in all of its beauty. Let their imaginations and personalities shine through instead of getting dulled by screens. Positive change starts today!

About the Author
Ava Roman (she/her) is the Managing Editor of Revivalist, a women’s lifestyle magazine that empowers women to live their most authentic life. When Ava is not writing you’ll find her in a yoga class, advocating for her children or whipping up something delicious in the kitchen!