{"id":48925,"date":"2023-09-04T08:33:54","date_gmt":"2023-09-04T12:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/?p=48925"},"modified":"2023-09-04T12:21:29","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T16:21:29","slug":"back-to-school-security-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/back-to-school-security-tips\/48925\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to School Security Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you ask parents and kids what their favorite days of the year are, many of the answers will be similar \u2013 but there\u2019ll be one key difference. And that day comes to certain days of school\u2026<\/p>\n

Kids\u2019 favorite school day is typically the last day of the academic year: the onset of summer and freedom \u2013 what could be better? Hell, Alice Cooper even wrote a song about it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For parents, this day is often dreaded: it leads to their having to add roles of entertainer, chauffer, chef, nanny, etc. to their regular day-to-day parenting tasks and\/or employment. Parents\u2019 fave school day of the year is the one kids dread the most \u2013 the first day of school<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

While my colleague Alexey Andreev gave some good back-to-school tips<\/a> the other day, I wanted to take an approach that\u2019s more reflective on the things that I\u2019ve helped my kids with, and which I hope might help other parents \u2013 especially given how interconnected devices are now in the learning experience.<\/p>\n

Online decorum<\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s face it, our kids are going through life in a way that was quite frankly unimaginable \u2013 or science fiction \u2013 to us as we were growing up. I\u2019m in my 40s, so my younger years saw computers only starting to appear in homes, and internet was dial-up. We learned as the platforms and technology grew.<\/p>\n

However, our kids have been online in some way, shape or form since they came into the world (true \u201cdigital natives\u201d). You more than likely posted pics of your new baby as a semi-internet brag (no shame there). But for kids, both the internet and digital devices have always been an integral part of their lives \u2013 and are tied to the classroom as well.<\/p>\n

As the new school year kicks off, it\u2019s good to remind our kids that online conversations are similar to those that take place in person \u2013 albeit behind a computer screen. While we all know that there are nuanced differences \u2013 kids are smart and will learn this \u2013 it\u2019s important to let them know that there are consequences for actions done online \u2013 just as offline. Quite simply for parents, this should mean letting them know how to be good human beings both offline and on.<\/p>\n

Devices: when to use them \u2013 and when not<\/h2>\n

We held off on getting our kids mobile devices. We felt that reaching middle school was the right time, since they were across town and had many afterschool activities; however, this of course varies from family to family.
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