Teen Tech Week is upon us and considering that U.S. teens spend an average of nine hours consuming entertainment media a day, it is important to keep them educated in online safety. Whether teens are using streaming services, playing video games or scrolling on social media, the majority of their time online is unsupervised. Although Gen Z has grown up in front of a screen, they still appear to be one the most vulnerable generations online. 

In fact, over 23,000 people under the age of 21 fell victim to online scams in 2020, representing over $70 million total losses. In honor of Teen Tech Week, Lookout, the leader in delivering integrated Security, Privacy, and Identity Theft Protection solutions, is here to provide tips on how parents can help protect their teenage children. Knowing that 46% of teens consume media on their phones, having advanced protection – like Lookout Security –  can help teens safeguard their mobile device against key digital scams and privacy risks .  

Tips For Online Child Safety: 

>>Educate your children about online privacy and safety best practices 

  • Talk to your children about the risks of revealing personal information, such as address, phone number, school name, location and photos online and encourage them to never share passwords to any of their accounts.
  • Let your children know to notify you with reports of any concerning content or interactions online. Most platforms have ways to block or report inappropriate content or behavior.

>>Consider implementing parental controls

  • You can also set up permissions and controls via your internet provider, to help you control the type of content that is delivered via your home WiFi network. 
  • You can set Parental Controls to help manage what sites and information your children have access to on the Internet. Many operating systems have child-safety tools built into major operating systems such as Apple and Google. 

>>Protect your children’s online experience & device with security protection 

  • Across social media, text messages, emails, and apps – phishing scams are on the rise. On average, 50% of people will encounter an unsafe link on their device in a three month period. 
  • It’s important to educate your children about online scams & run security protection – like Lookout Security – that will scan every link your child clicks online to ensure it is safe, and block risky websites or scams before they can do harm. 

About Lookout: 
Lookout is a cybersecurity company offering a range of security solutions  for both Consumer & Businesses customers.