Make a Contract With Your Kids About Online Safety #TheSmartTalk #CG

Every day I look around at my kids and think how different it would be for them if they didn’t have all the devices they do. When I was young I did have video games but they were much simpler ones and not connected to the internet obviously. The internet is something that I am so grateful wasn’t around when I was younger but now as a parent I have something else to add to my plate of what I need to worry about.

My oldest is 8 years old and while I’ve had the talk about strangers with him in the real world, I’ve just started talking to him about online and tech safety. He now wants to connect to his friends online and play against them and text his friends with his tablet, I’ve had to explain that there are strangers online who pretend to be others but I’m not sure it is soaking in yet.

LifeLock knows that being a parent is tough enough especially when it comes to managing their devices. LifeLock, Inc., and National PTA® has launched a new, free resource for families that helps parents have clear conversations with their kids about technology and rules for it.

So what is a parent to do to help them create healthy digital habits within their family?

The Smart Talk Tool is designed for families to make smarter, safer choices online. It is an interactive experience that guides kids and parents through a series of questions and conversations about topics such as safety and privacy, screen time, social media, apps and downloads, texting and calling, reputation and respect, and online videos and cameras.

The Smart Talk site features online safety resources so parents can create their own personalized family contract. The Smart Talk Tool encourages parents to sit down with their kids and lay the ground rules together. My son loved being involved in the decision making and I feel like it soaked in more since we talked about it as we went. Rather than just tell him what he can and cannot do, we talked through various situations and rules both of us could agree on.

Honestly I love all the questions The Smart Talk Tool asked, some I hadn’t thought of even explaining to my kids. Having the tool be something that involves kids as well as parents together really helped us as a family work out some safety issues that hopefully will lay a good baseline for tech issues in my kid’s present and future.

Visit the Smart talk site to check out the online safety resources and create your own family contract to encourage healthy digital habits.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.