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

Parents are always worried about the safety of their children while sending them to school. That’s perhaps the key reason why they choose a school that is closest to their residence. Along with the quality of education and other better facilities, transport services have also become one of the priorities of parents when searching for the best school for their kids.

Today, most schools have their fleet of school buses to provide pick-up and drop facilities to their students and staff. They take all the essential measures to ensure student safety, especially while traveling on school buses. To achieve this, many schools are adopting the latest technology in the form of a school transport management system that makes the transportation management task much easier for the schools.

A Brief about Transport Management Systems

In today’s time, technological advancements have transformed the entire transportation management to a great extent. Today, most buses and other vehicles have GPS, Wi-Fi, satellite radio, and various other facilities that allow efficient and systematic management of transportation systems. The school transport management system is one such technological advancement in the field of education.

A transportation management system is a database-driven software system that allows users to plan, execute, and monitor their transportation system to ensure utmost safety and less chance of any accidents. By automating the whole process, the system significantly reduces the need for manual interferences. Also, various metrics can be analyzed in real-time and instant reports can be generated with all the key details of the transportation system.

The transport management system for schools consists of various robust, secure, and reliable transport management solutions. It can be one of the factors parents consider for their kids when choosing a school.  It allows school administration to keep an eye over their entire transportation system in real-time. The system delivers various functionalities including vehicle tracking, route details, driver’s details, driver profile management, and more. Even parents can take the benefit of live tracking of school vehicles to determine the exact location of their children. Also, schools can connect with students as well as their parents easily via centralized transport management solutions.

Features of Transport Management System

Some of the key features of a transport management system are mentioned below:

GPS Tracking

The transport management system for schools facilitates real-time GPS tracking. GPS or Global Positioning System is a technology that acts as a navigation satellite system and offers location, time, and speed synchronization. GPS technology works in almost all weather conditions. It is an ideal solution for tracking location, determining accurate time, and for navigation purposes. With GPS technology, school authorities can make their transportation system more efficient while ensuring student safety. The technology helps to optimize route management together with managing student’s pick-ups and drops in an efficient manner.

Live Tracking Facility for Parents

The system allows parents to remain updated regarding the pick-up and drop stops, traveling route, driver details (name and contact number), details of the school vehicle like number and identification, and other important details. With the help of a transport management system, parents can track the school bus and other details in real-time through their phones. This provides them the accurate details of the transportation system that their child is using. For any queries or concerns, the system allows them to connect directly with school management.

Transport Attendance Management

Transport attendance management is an essential feature of the transport management system. It allows school authorities to update details in the system with regards to holidays, vehicle scheduling, changes in routes, driver work shifts, assigning students, parents, and teachers to a particular school route, and various other details. With the help of the transport management system’s attendance management feature, it becomes very convenient for school management to create a precise and efficient schedule for the transportation system. This way it also helps to save a lot of time and resources by eliminating the requirement of manually deciding and managing things related to school transportation.

Carrier Contracts Management

The carrier contracts management feature of the school transport management system allows school authorities to track all their terms and carrier agreements in real-time. This allows authorities to access the carriers based on their specific requirements or parameters. Even the system can suggest the best carriers based on the specified parameters.

Transport Reports and Analytics

The transport management system also helps to keep a record of all the transportation related activities. It enables school administration to record and update details such as bus and transport insurance, license renewal, bus identification details, school bus route details, vehicle maintenance, expenses, student attendance, transport staff salary, etc. The report for all these details can be generated and analyzed easily.

Better Decision Making Ability

Based on the reports like vehicle usage, fuel consumption, driver’s behavior, any delays in pick-up or drops, and various other reports, school management can make important decisions. These informed decisions can contribute to improved vehicle performance, enhanced student safety, better service, etc.

Conclusion:

To create a secure and advanced school environment, education institutions must invest in the right transport management system. Nowadays, there are several school transport management system providers available in the market that can customize the solution based on the specific requirements of the education institutes. After all, investing in such systems is not only beneficial for school management in terms of automation, improved efficiency, better security, superior transport management, and cost-effectiveness but also beneficial for parents as they get peace of mind regarding the safety of their children.

Author Bio:

Shobhit Srivastava holds the position of Digital Marketing Executive at Ecosmob, a Customized VoIP and Web-IT Solution provider company. A writer at day and a reader at night, he is having keen digital marketing skills along with an experience in writing an SEO-friendly, creative & informative contents for distinct industries.

For those living close enough to school to walk or ride a bicycle, discover innovative ways that parents are using cargo bikes designed to transport kids instead of driving.

Last year, millions of students, parents, and teachers were forced to make the difficult transition to online learning. The abruptness of this transition meant that most of the attention was placed on creating a system that was functional and far too little effort was allocated to cybersecurity.

The danger here is that this oversite combined with the drastic increase in remote learning puts millions of children at risk from privacy concerns that even parents and teachers may not even know exist.

Old Privacy Concerns

The harrowing truth is that these privacy concerns are not new. In fact, the FBI has warned the pre-university students face a number of cybersecurity risks that include the exposure of their personal identifiers, biometric data, school information, location, browser history, IP addresses, and many other data that should be closely guarded.

What Exactly Can a Criminal Do with This Data?

While your child’s data may not seem like a valuable resource, there’s so much a criminal can do with your child’s data. The most prevalent use of a child’s stolen data is in the creation of a synthetic identity, which is a “unique” identity created by piecing together bits of data from a collection of different individuals. These identities are then paired with an unused Social Security number.

How Does This Harm My Child?

As absurd as it may sound, there are limited measures that can prevent a fraudster from applying for credit through an underage Social Security number. Once a fraudster has access to a credit line, they can begin to undermine your finances right from under your nose by building credit, gaining account access, and by amassing heart-rending debts over time.

The primary purpose of using children’s data for this type of fraud is that parents don’t generally check their child’s credit reports or teach their kids about identify theft prevention.

The worst part is that this security compromise can go unnoticed until the child (now a young adult) tries to apply for a student loan, a credit line, or a car loan. Criminals can wreak havoc on your finances in a matter of minutes. Imagine what they can do with several years.

Can I Protect My Child?

Fortunately, this threat can be averted by establishing good internet security habits at home. Many of these habits, such as the use of strict privacy app settings, enabling two-factor authentication, and the use of antivirus software, are general safety practices that every citizen ought to know by now. Other measures function as an additional security layer for when you use your device as a conduit of data, as is the case in remote learning and in remote working setups. Parents aren’t hopelessly vulnerable to these attacks, but even a single security lapse can cost you dearly.

This Threat Will Only Worsen in The Near Future

Even when this problem seems as bad as it already is, the threat to data privacy will only become worse with the advent of data-focused technologies such as artificial intelligence and the internet of things.

Artificial intelligence will require a lot of raw data before it can function the way it was intended to – which is to be able to assimilate new information to alter its processes on its own. This can easily become an excuse to collect data from users, especially from those who choose to opt into the services that are provided by these programs.

The introduction of the internet of things into the consumer market will mean that there will be a sudden and drastic increase in the devices that will be able to collect data from their users, which will make it much more difficult to control the flow of data, especially when children are involved. We cannot yet implement security measures for a problem that has not arisen, but the one thing that’s sure to happen is that things will only become more complicated, which is why it’s important to establish good data security habits as early as now.

Remember, even when your child’s data may not seem like much, it can be used to devastating effect by criminals. Your child’s data is more important than you might think; be sure you guard it accordingly.

One of a parent’s nightmares is to see their child falling into the nippers of social media platforms, especially Instagram.  When people are not aware of its hidden dangers, they can lose money, become victims of data theft, and even get blackmailed.

Let’s have a closer look at Instagram dangers no one talks about.

Safety Concerns for Your Teen on Instagram

Before we talk about ways to keep your kids safe on Instagram, let’s talk about the dangers that are eyeing for your teens:

• Every one in ten Instagram accounts is fake, created either to steal the data or inject a virus/malware into the targeted device.

• A recent Pew survey revealed that around 59% of teens had been bullied online. Every one in five teens has been bullied on Instagram.

• Recent research from Arkose Lab revealed that 27% of social media transactions happened between January 2020 and March 2020.

• Instagram has been a favorite place for hackers and scammers from the day it was launched. Scams of all sorts like job scams, romance scams, shopping scams, and the like often happen on Instagram.

The above-mentioned data is adequate to give a glimpse of what dangers Instagram possesses secretively. Now, let’s come to the point and talk about ways to deal with them.

Educate Your Children about the Dangers

We know it seems complicated, but every parent must educate their children about all these perils of Instagram, their sister app Threads, and social media in general.  Make them understand that they must not follow or accept the following request from a random or unknown account. Make them aware of all the unseen dangers. Awareness is the tool to deal with any kind of hassles.

Stay in Loop

To know what your child is doing on Instagram, you must first be on the platform and keep a close watch. We know you will already have an Instagram. If you and your child follow each other, then you’re doing great. If not, then do it today.

Make Most of Instagram Assistance

Instagram itself is aware of the dangers and offers tons of tools to stay safe as much as possible. Don’t worry; you’ll find some easy to use settings and filters in their sensitive content and family center. So, you and your teen child will have no worries about implementing these. Here are some of them.

Account (Private or Public)

Instagram allows you to control the account’s identity and footprint. Any Instagram account can be either private or public. No one can access private accounts. Pictures and posts will be locked. Only the followers will be able to see them.

On the other hand, public accounts are accessible to everyone and photos can be shared freely without regard for privacy.

Anyone can view the posts, share the pictures, and send text messages. Clearly, a private account is a safer way to have an Instagram presence. Encourage your teens to make their accounts private.

Manage Comments

Unwanted conversations can lead to many hassles. We have seen many teens getting bullied on their posts. Some have even got body-shamed openly in comments. Instagram offers “Comment Controls” features using unwanted commenting that can be prevented. With this feature, your teen can control who should comment on their posts.

Not only this, comments can be filtered out. Instagram has built some powerful filters that will automatically remove offensive words and phrases. You or your teen can create a list of their own bad words or emojis. This way, many sorts of offensive content can be kept out of your kids’ reach.

Story Sharing To Close Friends

Not every Instagram follower is worthy enough to watch your teen’s stories. Encourage your teens to limit the stories access by creating a list of close friends and share the story with them. They can add or delete members in this list at any time.

Manage Control

Instagram lets end-users decide who can text them, add them into a different group, or add them into a chat list. With this kind of control, tons of cyberattacks and hassles can be prevented.

Two-way Authentication

Prevent unauthorized access to your teen’s account by using the two-way authentication facility.

This is an added security feature, powered by a secure code. Only the linked mobile phone will receive that code. So, any other won’t be able to access your teen’s Instagram account.

Also, make sure you use a strong password to make Instagram account more secure.

Ending Notes

Instagram is a wonderful place to be, provided all of its risks and dangers are far away. Teens can easily carry away from the glitz and gleam of Instagram and overlook the hidden dangers of Instagram. But, a parent can’t afford to do that.  The challenge becomes greater for younger kids, in which case you’ll want to implement easy to understand social media safety tips.

If you’re also a parent wondering how to keep your teen kids safe on Instagram then talk to them about the safety concerns and encourage them to keep their account private and utterly secure. When used responsibly, Instagram is superb.

Discover ways that teachers can use Instagram as a teaching tool inside and outside of the classroom.

Picture this! The latest online game for kids has just come out, and all of your child’s friends are asking them to get it. After they download it, the computer starts running slower than molasses—you suspect that you have a virus. How can you keep your computer virus-free when your kids play online games?

These days, more children engage in the online world than ever before. Unfortunately, this puts your computer at an increased risk of getting a virus. You want your children to enjoy online social activities, but you don’t want them to slow down the computer in the process!

Try these tips to keep your desktop computer virus-free:

Educate Your Child

How can your child avoid viruses if they don’t fully understand what they are? If your kid enjoys playing games online, try to sit them down and talk about how to play safely.

Depending on what games they like to play, certain ones may request permission to access your computer. This is often the case with online games, which may need to bypass your firewall. Let your child know that whenever these messages appear on the screen, it’s best to tell a parent first.

Some ads are targeted directly at children, promising them free in-game rewards. Just by visiting a website, malicious software can automatically download onto the computer. Your child may not even realize that they’ve just picked up a virus! Be sure to caution them about these misleading ads.

Teaching your child about viruses can only go so far. They may be able to spot obvious security threats, but many hackers go to great lengths to disguise malware. You’ll need to go the extra mile to keep your computer clean.

Monitor What They’re Doing Online

Your kids may not realize that the websites, games, and online platforms that they interact with can be dangerous.

People online can be incredibly persuasive, and may convince your child that clicking a link or downloading a file is perfectly safe—even if you’ve told them otherwise! Therefore, it’s important to monitor their activities regularly.

You can install various parental monitoring applications that allow you to survey what your child is doing online. This will ensure that they aren’t visiting websites that may damage the computer.

Boost Your Computer’s Defenses

You may have parental control applications on the computer, but most of these programs offer no protection against malware or viruses.

Did you know that up to 32% of computers around the world are infected with viruses? It’s a pretty shocking number! That means there’s almost a 1 in 3 chance that your computer has a virus. You need reliable anti-spyware and antivirus software to keep your desktop safe.

However, be wary of some free antivirus software—it may actually contain other viruses! Do your research when it comes to protective software.

Watch Out for Emails!

Almost everyone has an email address these days, even children. It’s an easy way for kids to connect with friends, get updates from their school, and keep up with new game releases.

Unfortunately, emails are also the most common way that viruses infect computers. This happens in various ways. Sometimes, the malicious person sends emails that appear to come from a close friend. The message might include a (.doc) or (.exe) file that contains a virus. Let your child know that if they receive an email from an unknown sender, they should not open it—instead, they should send it straight to the trash bin!

Make a Secure Password

The passwords that are the easiest to remember are often the least secure. If a hacker is targeting children’s accounts, they’ll start by trying all the most common passwords. You’ll need to get creative to boost your account security—rather than simple phrases, stick to complex strings of numbers and characters.

It can be easy to forget things when you’re a kid! Instead of trying to memorize a complicated password, have your child write it down on a piece of paper and place it next to the computer.

Be Proactive

Even if things are running smoothly, you never know when the next virus will cause a technology breakdown. You can install software that consistently monitors and scans your computer for viruses.

Try to notice when your computer is running slowly. If your kid uses the computer the most, let them know that they can always tell you if something is suspicious. Once you identify the virus, you can ask them where it might have come from. Working through the process with your child can teach them to avoid malicious websites.

The sooner you get rid of a virus, the better! Protect your computer against spyware, malware, and viruses by monitoring its performance.

Limit Their Screen Time

One of the best ways to avoid a virus is by spending less time on the computer. But you don’t need to eliminate their screen time entirely! Instead, work on cutting it down by a few minutes each day.

If you want to reduce screen time for families, it takes planning. Suddenly springing it on your child may result in a tantrum. Instead, aim to start the day by telling your kid that they will have a time limit today.

Next, plan fun activities to show your child that they can have fun without a computer! Plan things like puzzles, baking cookies, or going for a walk. The less time that your kid spends playing online games, the less likely it is that you’ll get a virus!

Children love all that computer games have to offer them, from social interaction with their friends to a break from schoolwork. Unfortunately, playing online carries a risk: viruses.

If you’ve dealt with a computer virus before, then you know how inconvenient, time-consuming, and unsettling they can be. Try these above tips to keep your computer virus-free and functional for the whole family.