This represents a threat both to the child and the household, depending on the level of damage done to a child’s psyche by a bully, sex abuser, a con artist or a malware laden site. In response to the problem, parents have become more alert to questionable online surfing or interactive behaviour by their kids, and are taking advantage of the easily available knowledge and guidelines on how to combat or minimise online exposure to dangers.

But the menace that is Internet abuse is not just limited to homes and schools. These days, a child can go to any Internet café outside his home or use a handheld device to log into an unsafe site, all the while evading the security measures of the home computer. Understanding the complexity of this situation, experts are now instructing parents to teach their children positive online behaviour, so that they learn about suspicious or potentially hazardous sites, rather than merely dictating the protocols to be followed and devices to be installed to restrict their kids from falling victim to this kind of abuse.

Among the more positive tips that have been suggested, there’s one that focuses on teaching the parents to understand the difference between social media and social learning sites, and encouraging them to steer their kids’ web activities towards the latter. This, the experts hope, will entice the children to use platforms that are naturally child appropriate and are knowledge-based.  

Even if the actual online behaviour in question is benign, one silent danger of the Internet is the time wasting aspect. If a child is spending way too much of her or his days online, the parent should discuss ground rules on browsing the Internet. They should make sure that their child is using it rightly and for right reasons. Keeping a child secure online in this manner should be as simple as training her or him to restrict the time spent in front of the television screen.