The danger for children online is reflected in the numbers.
According to MissingKids.org, nearly 19% of high school students in the United States have reported being bullied online, showing that girls more affected than boys. In fact, the ages most affected by bullying are ages 12 to 15, representing 50% of exploitation victims.
More alarming, 20% of children in the U.S. have been exposed to explicit solicitation online involving non-consensual explicit images, talk and extortion. Over 29 million separate incidents of exploitation have been uncovered based on calls to MissingKids.org’s CyberTipline in 2024.
Shockingly, the Child crime Prevention & Safety Center reports there are an estimated 500,000 active online predators seeking to exploit children every day. Almost 60% of teens report receiving messages from strangers and admit they have either knowingly or unwittingly responded to them.
Notwithstanding the marvels and permanence of the Internet, award-winning local technology company Home Telecom takes these statistics seriously. They believe in having a safe internet experience for your children by implementing tools and setting up protective guardrails that rein in danger.
Protect IQ
Every customer that signs up for a Home Telecom Internet plan receives multi-layered Protect IQ benefits: whole-home network security, smart device defense against hackers, protection from network intrusions like malware and viruses, and daily updates that alleviate aggressive new forms of attack.
It provides safety and privacy tools that restrict data collection from minors; and it adheres to data protection regulations in the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA).
Home Telecom makes Internet education a priority. They encourage families with children to take advantage of protection-based features on the MyWiFi Xtreme app like age verification and content restriction measures.
Most Prominent Concerns for Children
Cyberbullying
Not all dangerous material on the Internet comes from strangers and hackers.
Online bullying is usually from other children or peers. Criticism about one’s physical appearance, athletic prowess, weight and shape, taste in clothing, family reputation, a disability, or personality traits can be devastating to children in their formative years.
According to PISA 2022 (Programme for International Student Assessment), girls are three times more susceptible to online bullying than boys. Fifty-one percent of girls say they have experienced cyberbullying, compared to 38% of boys.
Social Media
High social media usage of three or more hours per day has been linked to childhood depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and body dysmorphia, particularly in adolescent girls.
Inappropriate Content
Dangerously inappropriate content isn’t just explicit. It can include foul language, violence, explicit images, suicide, and hate speech.
Online Predators
Unfortunately, many social media platforms, games and online chatbots are convenient for dangerous predators to pose as peers to connect with children without their parents knowing. They lure children out to “meet up” after school or an activity, putting the child in grave danger.
Intentional Addiction
Much debated in the courts social media companies design their algorithms to be addictive to everyone, but children are especially vulnerable. Like drugs and alcohol, addiction leads to health issues, behavioral problems and insomnia.
Loss of Self-esteem
Constant exposure to sexualized images, the appearance of fame or popularity, exaggerated numbers of “friends” and unrealistic personal expectations create distorted views of reality in young children and adolescents.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence is offering a new but rapidly evolving danger for children online. AI can produce unsuitable content and create “deep fake”, “nudified” images from innocent photos then disseminated as real. AI has even answered medical questions with non-medical opinions that make some children feel self-conscience, inferior and suicidal.
Home Telecom considers protections against these online perils so important, they offer tools through their MyWiFi Xtreme app that helps to cast an online safety net over all household online activity. It helps parents create a safer, more balanced online environment for their kids.
Parenting with MyWiFi Xtreme
By making use of Home Telecom’s MyWiFi Xtreme app, parents can create profiles for each member of their household. At any time, a parent can view each member’s device and its online activity, add content restrictions and time limits for use, and block access to apps, websites and games.
Parents adjust settings without restricting their own Internet usage, making it easy to still operate a home office or enjoy streaming movies, games and music reliably and without latency or interruption.
Fully Protected, While You’re Connected!
All of Home Telecom’s Internet packages include multi-layered internet security tools that protect your family, your devices, and your network.
- DDos Protection
The first of four layers of Home Telecom’s Internet defense, DDos attacks target specific web applications by overwhelming servers or firewall resources with massive traffic in attempts to crash the server. Home Telecom uses an innovative multi-stage detection and mitigation pipeline that continuously searches for DDos attacks, then automatically mitigates that attack by hardening vulnerabilities in the network infrastructure. This circular pipeline ensures the highest possible efficacy. - DNS Layer Protection
DNS Layer Protection acts like an umbrella that shields your valuable data and Internet connection from cyberattacks without sacrificing speed and reliability. - Customer Device Protection
Home Telecom’s third layer of protection blocks unauthorized access to the equipment you own and maintain (i.e. smartphones, tablets, routers, firewalls, firmware and VPNs). - TrendMicro Maximum Security Computer Protection
Home Telecom partnered with TrendMicro to provide robust device protection software that blocks online security threats using powerful antivirus and anti-scam tools.
Parental Online Protections for Kids Outside the Home
At a certain age, it becomes harder to monitor and oversee everything your children are exposed to outside the home. Whether it is at school, the library, park or hanging out at a friend’s house where the parents aren’t as diligent as you, no parent can watch their children every minute.
There are, however, several mobile parental controls on smartphones and tablets available that need only be activated to protect your children outside the home.
Family Link, Apple Family Sharing and Microsoft Family Safety help manage apps, monitor activity, and restrict content outside your home network. Google SafeSearch has parental controls within YouTube, social media apps, and web browsers that hide inappropriate content.
Devices themselves have several tools too.
Browser plugins when installed, create a filter for harmful content; device operating system configurations restrict app installation, manage screen time, and disable in-app purchases. You can turn off location services to prevent revealing a child’s location to strangers.
There is no shortage of online safety discussions that teach how to recognize red flags and unwanted requests, and they offer recommendations for reporting uncomfortable content.
Finally, you can check out apps that monitor internet usage and keep you up to date with alerts about cyberbullying scams and online predators.
Monitor Signs of Possible Online Bullying, Abuse and Exploitation
One in five children being bullied online will begin skipping school or making claims of illness despite no outward symptoms.
Behavioral changes like sudden bursts of anger or emotional distress while online; the onset of frequent headaches, stomachaches and insomnia; declining grades; isolation from friends and family; and sudden attempts at secrecy, hiding device screens or quitting the Internet completely, are all signs for concern.
Beware of abrupt and increasing levels of anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and self-harm in your children. They too are red flags that should be dealt with immediately.
