A Digital Childhood

From an incredibly young age, kids today have grown up with technology in the palm of their hands. Often, we see toddlers with tablets as digital pacifiers or teens with their heads buried in their phones, texting vigorously to stay connected with friends. The reality is that online connections, learning, and fun are important for today’s youth, but it comes with many hidden risks. As adults responsible for ensuring our younger loved ones are safe, we need to understand how to prepare and protect them, and ourselves.

Why Internet Safety Matters More Than Ever

As summer begins, it’s a good time to reacquaint ourselves with the basics of internet safety. Long gone are the days of students carrying overcrowded bags filled with heavy textbooks. Kids and teachers rely heavily on devices for classroom learning and homework. The internet is essential for education, communication, and entertainment. But as the kids get ready to ditch the bookbag for a few months, summer break equals more screen time, which leads to a greater potential for online threats.

Cyberbullying is a core threat to today’s youth. It’s when kids experience harassment through texts, social media, and gaming platforms. The percentage of adolescents who admitted to cyberbullying others jumped from historical rates of 5%-7% to 16.1% in recent years. [1] Another alarming threat is online predators, where adults exploit anonymity to target children. These online threats have real-world consequences that can have a long-term impact on kids’ mental health and overall well-being.

National Internet Safety Month

Historically, online risks and enticement cases increase significantly during the summer months when children spend more unsupervised time online. That’s why Internet Safety Month is observed every June to help raise awareness and promote education about digital risks, enhance cybersecurity, and protect youth online. Established by the U.S. Senate in 2005, it highlights three key focus areas:

1. Digital Hygiene: The routine habits and best practices used to maintain the health, security, and cleanliness of your devices and online accounts.
2. Protecting Youth: Combating online risks with Parental Controls – including a combination of network-level blocks, device operating system features, and third-party apps for the best protection of children online.
3. Public Wi-Fi Safety: Advising users to avoid sensitive transactions (like banking or shopping) on unsecured public networks.

Internet Safety starts with the basics, and families play a crucial role. Let’s dive deeper into these key focus areas so your loved ones stay protected.

Brushing up on good Digital Hygiene

Daily routines are crucial to how children learn and become independent. From an early age, brushing teeth, getting dressed, and making the bed were the foundation of small everyday habits we took with us into adulthood. The same principle can apply to our online routines, too. In the digital world, small internet safety habits can yield big protection. Many cyber risks stem from simple, preventable mistakes. Here are some core practices on how to avoid them:

1. Strong passwords
   • At least 16 characters, unique for each account
   • Use password managers
2. Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
   • Adds an extra security layer
3. Software updates
   • Protect against known vulnerabilities
4. Recognize phishing
   • Teach kids and parents to spot suspicious messages

Parental Controls: A Safety Net, Not a Substitute

While technical safeguards can help, nothing replaces ongoing, open conversations with kids about online safety. Building trust through honest dialogue about risks, ranging from protecting personal information to being cautious with strangers, and identifying reliable sources, is still the most effective protection.

Parental controls should support, not substitute, active parenting. Use tools like content filters and limit location sharing to a small, trusted group, but aim for a balanced approach. Over-monitoring can backfire, so focus on guiding rather than policing.

It’s equally important to prepare kids for real-world scenarios by reinforcing safe habits and clear responses to risks. For example: report and stand against cyberbullying, recognize and avoid phishing or suspicious messages, and exercise extreme caution with strangers online including never meeting in person, sharing inappropriate content, or revealing personal details like home addresses.

Trusted Resources for Families

And of course, internet safety doesn’t stop when kids go back to school. Here are a few resources to help protect yourself and your family’s devices throughout the entire year.

• NetSmartz: Offers resources for teaching online safety.
• Common Sense Media: Provides media and technology advice for families.

A Call to Action

If you are a Cox customer, you can practice strong internet safety habits by taking advantage of these built-in tools and staying vigilant about their online activity:

• Advanced Security protects all connected devices from cyberthreats, malicious websites, and phishing attempts
• Panoramic Wi-Fi app allows users to monitor connected devices, pause Wi-Fi access and block unauthorized connections
• Cox Complete Care offers expert support to remove malware, fix technical issues, and keep devices running securely

Equally important is maintaining account security by being cautious with personal information and recognizing potential fraud attempts over the phone or email, helping ensure a safer and more secure digital experience overall.

To learn more about how Cox can help you with cybersecurity solutions, visit https://www.cox.com/residential/internet/learn/cybersecurity-options.html

Paid for by Cox

Cox Communications is a family-owned company committed to creating more meaningful moments of human connection through technology.

As the largest private broadband provider in the United States, we're proud of our continued investments in our people, our communities and our network.

Learn more about Cox