Kelowna RCMP: Monitor your children's internet use to keep them safe

Kelowna RCMP have released a list of tips to help parents keep their children safe online.

It comes after new reports of upsetting content being posted on YouTube and social media, police said.

They recommend parents constantly monitor their children’s internet use and make sure they discuss what happens online regularly.

“We encourage all parents to teach their children when to BLOCK, DELETE or REPORT disturbing images or videos that they may encounter online,” Cst. Lesley Smith, a school resource officer, said.

She added: “The Kelowna RCMP continues to promote school safety as well as internet safety within our local School District and private schools.”

Their list of tips are as follows:

• Encourage your children to have open discussions with you and prevent them from resorting to internet chat rooms

• Report any emails or internet content that seem suspicious or have violent content and threats

• Remember that everything you read online may not be true

• If you have suspicions that threats being made could be real, go to the proper authorities and report the situation

• As young people have embraced various forms of social media and technologies, the RCMP encourage you to also embrace them so that you can better understand their risks and how to avoid them

• Internet users should report negative behaviour or suspicious activity

For more information about internet safety, head to www.bcrcmp.ca or contact your local RCMP School Resource Officers.