Sunday, June 24, 2018

How To Stop Catfishing Online And Keep Your Children Safe From Internet Predators

By Sarah Smith


The internet has opened the world to those who have access to electronic devices. As wonderful as this is, technology has also created opportunities for predators to take advantage of those who are most vulnerable. As a parent, it's your job to protect your children. If you are going to allow them access to the internet you have to know how to stop catfishing online in your own home.

A lot of children know more about internet terminology that their parents do. If you are not familiar with the meaning of catfishing, you need to get educated fast. Catfish are predators who create fake identities, profiles, and pictures in an effort to fool unsuspecting individuals. They might be targeting kids for sexual purposes or as a way to manipulate them. It's important that you do everything possible to minimize the risks to your children.

There are online responsibility lessons that must go along with permission to access the internet. Kids love sharing pictures with their friends on social media, but this may make them vulnerable to catfish. One tactic catfish use is flattery, which over time can turn into trust. Privacy settings can minimize this problem. If others are going to share pictures of your kids, you should make sure they tag the kids so you know about it.

You will have to teach your kids to avoid strangers who want to have private conversations with them. Most kids are pretty trusting. Predators know how to manipulate that. You need to make sure your child is only having conversations in groups. Predators don't like witnesses.

Most people teach their kids to be careful of strangers who try to approach them on the street. They need to teach them the same thing about strangers they meet on the internet. It's okay to be a nosy parent. If you see a friend you do not know on your child's social media page, ask who the person is and how your child knows him.

There are certain signs you should recognize as a potential catfish. Some of them will set up sophisticated profiles but when you search, not show up anywhere else on the internet. They might have new profiles with lots of friends. Catfish won't post details or have much interaction with their so called friends.

Searching the catfish's image is one way to catch him. It's easy to copy an image of the individual and download it into a search engine. If the image is fake you'll probably find it popping up on numerous websites and social media pages. It might even turn out to be a celebrity. Once you have determined the individual is a catfish, he should be blocked immediately.

Modern technology is wonderful. It opens a lot of doors for people of all ages. Protecting your kids from the negative elements that exist online is paramount though. Catfish can strike anywhere. You have to remain vigilant and know who your child is talking to.




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