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Grades K–5 Family Tips

Help Kids Post, Comment, and Upload Responsibly

As soon as you share the first photo of your kid, you're establishing their digital footprint. As kids get older and start creating their own content or engaging with others online, it's important for them to understand the tracks they're leaving behind and what those tracks might reveal. Parents can help guide kids toward creating the kind of footprint they can be proud of.

Check out these 4 tips

Be a role model.

Before you post a photo of your kid on social media, ask if it's OK to share. Not only will you give them control over their own digital footprint, you'll also be showing them what you expect them to do with others' photos.

Use privacy settings.

Together, go through all the settings on new apps to make sure you both know what information your kids are sharing. Especially in the beginning, it's better to share very little.

Question everything.

Before you sign school forms or register for a new online service for your kid, check the privacy policy to see what kind of information you're giving the school or company and who they're sharing it with. Sharing some data might be required, but you may be able to opt out of others. Talk with your kid about why it's important to protect your personal data.

Use a celebrity as an example.

With older kids, choose a celebrity or another famous person and look through their Twitter or Instagram posts with your kid. Discuss your impressions of them based on what they post. Ask your kid what kind of image they'd like to project online.

Print PDF

Looking for other languages? See the Spanish version (ver en español) or download the multilingual PDF bundle to get these tips in Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Korean, Russian, Tagalog, Urdu, and Vietnamese.

Get more family engagement resources

© Common Sense Media 2018. Lessons are shareable with attribution for noncommercial use only. No remixing permitted. View detailed license information at creativecommons.org.

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