Homeschool students in higher grades spend a considerable time online. It could be researching for a report, watching videos on a specific topic, or even attending online courses. These may be perfectly acceptable activities that your teenager is conducting online, but is that all he is doing on the internet? Do you know about the sites that he visits regularly?Who is he interacting with on these websites? In case of the internet being a mildly paranoid parent may actually work to your advantage.
Social Media Websites
Parents need to monitor the number of social media websites that the homeschool students are on. There accounts should be checked out every once in a while to ensure that they are not on sites which may not be age appropriate to them. It’s a good idea to install a software like web nanny that allows you to block some sites altogether.
Cyber Bullying
If you child is being bullied by people online, it can be just as traumatic as being bullied in person. Pay attention to your child’s behaviour. Is he converting from a cheerful child into a brooding and private one? Ask him if there is anything troubling him. Get him to read up about how to combat cyber bullying. Speak about how to end it and how to deal with it. Don’t shove it under the carpet because it’s not in the real world.
Safety Hazards
Passwords, personal details, and picture should never be shared with strangers online. These activities can lead to all kinds of safety hazards like sexual harassment, stalking, and worse. Explain the worst case scenario to your child so that he understands why these details should always remain private from people you have not met in person. Speak of the evils so that the child is not ignorant in his innocence and gets taken advantage of.
Addictions and Disruptions
If your homeschool student is spending a lot more time online doing “research” than he needs to, you may need to limit the time he has access to the internet. Addictive behaviour can cause a number of disruptions in his daily routine and the homeschool teacher needs to be on guard against this.
