You may be doing everything right to protect yourself from online threats - creating strong passwords, avoiding suspicious links, and monitoring your accounts regularly. But what about your children?
From school tablets to gaming consoles and social media apps, kids are growing up in a fully connected world. While technology offers incredible learning opportunities, it also opens doors to risks they may not recognize. Many children and teens overshare personal details online without realizing how easily that information can be misused.
Keeping young minds safe online isn’t always simple, but taking the right steps can build strong digital guardrails that protect your child’s privacy - and their future.
Step 1: Review Their Digital Footprint
Start by taking inventory of your child’s online presence. Google their name, check social media accounts, and review any public profiles. You may be surprised by how much personal information is already visible, including school names, hometowns, birthdays, and even favorite hangout spots.
Once you know what’s out there, begin cleaning it up. Delete outdated posts, remove identifying details, and set profiles to private. If relatives or friends have shared photos publicly and it’s outside your comfort zone, kindly ask them to remove or restrict the visibility of those photos.
Step 2: Set Clear Boundaries for Sharing
Children often post updates that seem harmless - a selfie in a school jersey, a location tag at a local park, or a birthday shoutout with age and date. Unfortunately, those small clues can give away more than they realize.
Establish clear rules for what can and cannot be shared online. Ensure that family members and close friends are on the same page as well. For example, grandparents may love sharing photos, but it’s wise to limit personal details, such as full names, school references, or tagged locations.
Step 3: Lock Down Your Home Network
A secure Wi-Fi connection is the foundation of digital safety. Update your router’s password regularly, use WPA3 encryption if available, and hide your network’s SSID (the visible name that appears when devices search for Wi-Fi).
Consider creating a separate “guest” network for visitors or devices that your child’s friends bring over. This step adds another layer of security and helps keep your primary home network protected from potential vulnerabilities.
Step 4: Manage Device Privacy Settings
Whether it’s a smartphone, tablet, smart TV, or gaming console, every connected device includes privacy and security settings. Take time to review them together. Turn off location tracking for apps that don’t need it, and limit which applications can access the camera or microphone.
Also, review app permissions periodically, especially after updates. Some apps may re-enable tracking or default to original settings after major software changes.
Step 5: Set Up Parental Controls
Parental control features allow you to manage what your children can access online and how much time they spend connected. Most systems, from Apple and Android devices to streaming platforms and gaming consoles, include these tools.
You can also turn off in-app purchases or restrict content ratings to age-appropriate levels. These steps not only help protect your child’s privacy but also prevent accidental charges or exposure to unsafe content.
Step 6: Create a Family Password Plan
It’s easy to lose track of multiple logins, and using the same password for every app or device is risky. Instead, create a family password management plan. A password manager can generate and store unique, complex passwords while keeping them secure behind one master login.
Using this system teaches kids good digital habits early - and ensures that accounts are safe, even if one password is compromised.
Step 7: Freeze Your Child’s Credit
It may seem surprising, but child identity theft is on the rise. Scammers can use a child’s Social Security number to open fraudulent accounts, often going undetected for years. Freezing your child’s credit is one of the most effective ways to prevent this from happening.
Each of the major credit bureaus - Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion - allows parents or guardians to request a credit freeze for minors. It’s free, simple, and blocks any new credit applications in your child’s name until you choose to lift the freeze.
Step 8: Have Honest Conversations About Online Risks
Technology rules and filters only go so far. The most important safeguard is ongoing communication. Explain why you’re putting these measures in place - not to control them, but to protect them.
Talk about what can happen when private details are shared online, even in trusted spaces. A friendly chat, a photo shared in confidence, or a private message can travel quickly - and permanently. Help them understand that their online reputation becomes part of their digital identity.
For teenagers, discuss the permanence of social media, the risks of oversharing, and the importance of thinking before posting or clicking. For younger kids, frame it in terms of “stranger danger” in the digital world - a simple, but powerful approach.
Step 9: Use Online & Mobile Banking Tools to Teach & Protect
As children mature into teens and begin managing their own money, financial safety becomes an integral part of cybersecurity. Linking their youth or teen account with yours through the credit union’s Online & Mobile Banking platforms allows you to monitor transactions, encourage smart spending, and spot suspicious activity early.
You can set up account alerts, view balances in real time, and transfer funds instantly. It’s a hands-on way to teach financial responsibility while reinforcing safe digital habits - all within a secure, encrypted environment.
Step 10: Model the Behavior You Want Them to Follow
Kids watch everything adults do. Practicing good cybersecurity yourself reinforces the importance of these steps. Avoid posting too many family details online, keep your devices updated, and use two-factor authentication wherever possible.
When children see cybersecurity as part of everyday life rather than a restriction, they’re more likely to adopt those habits naturally.
We’re Here to Help!
The online world can feel overwhelming for parents trying to keep up with rapidly evolving technology. But with thoughtful planning and open communication, you can create a safer digital environment for your children - one that protects their privacy, finances, and sense of security.
If you’d like to learn more about our secure Online & Mobile Banking tools or how to set up youth or teen accounts, we’re ready to help. Please stop by the Credit Union or call 410-687-5240 to speak with a team member today.