Keeping kids safe online is a top priority for most parents. Many of us worry about how to prevent our kids from being victims of online cruelty, but it\u2019s equally important to ensure they understand how not to become perpetrators of it. The bottom line? Kids need to understand the effects their words and actions can have online.<\/p>\n
As part of our partnership with Google and YouTube for Safer Internet Month, we\u2019re exploring \u201cIt\u2019s Cool to be Kind<\/a>\u201d, one of their Be Internet Awesome resources<\/a> aimed at empowering kids with tools and education to confidently and safely explore, grow, and play online.<\/p>\n The Internet is a vast and nuanced communication tool that demands us to think in terms of \u201cboth\/and\u201d rather than \u201ceither\/or\u201d. For example, the internet propagates both<\/strong> inspiring and uplifting information, and<\/strong> hateful commentary and opinions.\u00a0Unfortunately, the Internet itself makes no distinction between kindness or cruelty. That\u2019s where you come in. Families are powerful influencers of their children, and they can help them \u201ctake the high road\u201d by exemplifying the concept of \u201ctreating others as you\u2019d want to be treated\u201d, supporting their friends, and defusing drama and cyberbullying.<\/p>\n When somebody messes up (and this is surprisingly easy to do online \u2014 even unintentionally), family members are more likely than anyone to understand, forgive, and help each other learn from mistakes. So there\u2019s no better place to start putting online respect, kindness, and positivity into effect than within your family. Families can help when someone\u2019s being unkind (sometimes just by listening). They can also encourage each other to be \u201cupstanders\u201d: people who support and advocate for people who are the targets of cruel or malicious behavior. If you haven\u2019t already, have a discussion on what kinds of actions and behavior are important \u2014 talk about how your family treats people. Think about what that looks like digitally: texts, posts, comments, photos, and videos.<\/p>\n The tone of a text or post is the spirit of it \u2014 the feeling a person gets when receiving it, good or bad. Because parents and kids text, use messenger apps, and DM (direct message) each other all the time and know each other so well, they don\u2019t always think about how a text comes across. With people we know, texting is just another way to have a conversation or connect. But when people don\u2019t know each other so well, a text or emoji can sometimes be interpreted very differently from the way it was intended. So here\u2019s a simple activity to get everybody thinking about that:<\/p>\n Here are some talking points (and questions) for a parent-child conversation about the social scene at school. See which ones work for your family.<\/p>\n Sometimes, being an upstander just means being a friend to someone who\u2019s been bullied \u2014 listening to them, sending love, or just being there for them.<\/p>\n This sponsored content is part of Google\u2019s Be Internet Awesome<\/a> work, and has been republished here with their permission.<\/em><\/p>\n *<\/p>\n Want to learn more about internet safety? Check out Screentime Strategies To Support Healthy Media Experience For Kids<\/a>, How To Give Kids A Healthy Start With Phones<\/a>, and our takeaways from the Internet Safety Fireside Chat<\/a> we recently had with Google Canada.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n
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