BBB reminds parents, students about internet safety

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - Now that the kids have their school supplies, getting them ready for school doesn’t end there.

The Better Business Bureau is getting families ready for school with internet safety tips. They boil down to two words: Be careful.

We know the internet and social media are ripe with strangers with intentions that are different from yours. A lot of websites and even mobile apps are designed to collect unauthorized information and sell it to marketers.

One thing to watch out for is kids changing their birth date online to meet minimum age requirements.

The BBB advises:

• Talk to your kids about creating accounts on websites without permission
• Make sure your child doesn’t have access to banking or credit card information
• Supervise them when they fill out forms (this is especially for those contests and giveaways online)
• Phishing: It’s not just who gets spam and junk mail, kids with email do it, too. Make sure they’re not clicking links they’re not sure of or answering questions they probably shouldn’t

Also take the time to talk to your child about apps. Even free apps sometimes have paid features. You don’t want to end up with a hefty bill by mistake.

We know this can be overwhelming, so the Family Online Safety Institute provides the “How to be a Good Digital Parent” toolkit for parents of elementary school students and teenagers. It helps with those internet conversations with your child and how to be a good digital role model yourself. Materials are available in English and Spanish.

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