Protecting the prodigies: Tips to help the children in your life stay cyber-safe

Kids have a way with tech. Decades out from the mainstreaming of the family computer, the way older generations look to their youngers when a device glitches or a page won’t load has become a well-worn trope.

While children’s advantage – having more pliable brains – might seem obvious, it wasn’t until 2022 that researchers at Brown University found evidence to prove it. Their study identified a neurotransmitter, γ-aminobutyric acid or GABA, that spikes during learning in both children and adults, but increases at greater speeds and multiples in children.

While GABA may make it easier for the kids in our lives to learn more efficiently, it can also be what puts them at greater risk online. Because GABA helps the brain consolidate and retain information – and, outside of learning-related spikes, children’s GABA levels are lower overall – kids have fewer inhibitory abilities and weaker impulse control. They can master a new device with ease, but are vulnerable to the world it connects them to.

To help you help them, we’ve collected some tips to keep the most tech-proficient among us protected.

#1: Let them know their information is invaluable.

When learning to spell a name or memorize an address is a milestone moment, it can be hard to understand why they aren’t things you should be sharing with everyone. Help kids, even older ones, understand what constitutes personally identifiable information – full names, phones numbers, addresses, school information, photos, social media profiles, usernames, passwords – and why they should be very careful to share it only with trusted people and pages.

If they have access to sites pre-loaded with a parent’s or family member’s personal information – media apps, music apps, gaming apps, e-commerce sites – be sure rules are set around when and how they can use them.

#2: Encourage incognito mode.

A kid might jump online without ever leaving your house, but every time they do, they’re in public. It’s important for them to understand their visibility online and why they should take advantage of the privacy tools offered by their favorite gaming apps and social platforms.

From enabling multi-factor authentication to “locking” an account, help kids explore the privacy features available on their favorite sites and native to their devices.

#3: Teach them to catch a phish.

“Stranger danger” applies as much in the virtual world as it does the real. Though they make less likely targets, kids should still be aware that they could encounter scammers and others with ill intent online.

Reinforce the idea that they shouldn’t engage with accounts they don’t recognize or messages they aren’t expecting – and to alert an adult if an account they do recognize is behaving strangely.

#4: The internet is forever

Despite “delete” buttons, history-clearing, cache-emptying and private modes, the things we share on the internet – and the trails we leave – tend to stay there. Photos can be saved, comments screenshotted and posts archived. Help kids understand that they won’t be able to control who sees their public activity, and encourage them to ask a key question before sharing: “Will I wish I could take this back some day?”

For more tips and interactive resources to help kids practice cyber-safety, visit the National Cybersecurity Alliance at staysafeonline.org.

Sources: Brown University, The National Cybersecurity Alliance