Blogging for kids under 13 is becoming very popular these days. Kids are interested in Internet trends. It is productive for kids to know how to blog but only up to a certain point.
In fact, the important thing in blogging is safety issues. Blogging gives an opportunity for kids to know many things. To ensure that kids participate in safe blogging, parents and teachers have to play a major role.
There are a few basic rules that parents and teachers should follow so they can help their kids have a problem free as well as safe blogging experience.
Ways to Supervise Blogging
1. Any blog post entered by kids should first be read and approved by their parents. Guide the child in selecting better topics for blogging. Check every topic that is entered by your child in their blogs.
2. Parents should have access to email accounts. Make sure that comments are moderated through an email account given by the parents that enables them to edit any comments. One should not respond to indecent comments and make it a priority to delete them.
3. Parents should teach their children that no personal information like age, location, sports team and name should be revealed in the blog. When blogging, it is best to use a nickname. Avoiding uploading any personal pictures in blogs. They can be misused and lead to cyber crimes.
4. Any online payment required by your kid should be done by you and not by the kid. Teach them that if they share credit card numbers or details with anyone, then you lose money and face the risk of credit card fraud.
5. Another thing, if parents want they can make blogs private and not for public viewing. Instead the blog is only open to friends and family. This type of option is offered by MySpace. Parents should check the links of friends made by your kid. Anything negative should be shared and shown to the child so that he or she understands the after effects of it.
6. It is good to let your child explore the world, but don’t shut your eyes to it. Make frequent visits to the maintained blogs and preview their profiles or their friend’s profile. Make sure that your kid is not deleting temporary Internet files either from the computer or browsing any indecent sites.
7. Most of the blogging sites like WordPress, Blogger, LiveJournal or TypePad prevent kids under the age of 13 to blog. However, if the parent wishes they can use free kid blogging sites and then handle it with guidance. The parent should be a step ahead of the child.
Did you miss the first article in our series about kids under 13 blogging? Read it now – Say Yes to Blogs for Kids Under 13. Also read our eguide and learn about blogging – An Introduction to the World of Blogging. It’s free! Watch our video lessons on How to Create a Blog Using Blogger. They’re also free!
