Children spend more and more time online.

Why do you talk to your kids about sexuality and online?

Talking to your kids about the topic ‘online’ prepares them for the good - but also less sides of the internet. As a parent, you want your kid to grow up as healthy and safe as possible, while protecting them and giving them the tools to make sure they can make their own decisions. This is no different when it comes to online and sexuality. Even though it can be a bit apprehensive to talk about these topics, kids will be more protected when you have regular conversations with them about how they are doing and what they’re doing (online). Education about sexuality supports and protects kids and youngsters in their sexual development and teaches them to make responsible decisions. Having those conversations can also decrease the risk of becoming a victim of (online) sexual transgressive behavior, or (accidentally) transgressing someone else's boundaries, which is why it's important to have these talks with your kids. Children can get into situations online they’re not prepared for. As a parent, it’s important that you teach your kids how to react in certain situations. Show your kids they can come to you for anything, even if they haven’t been able to respond the way you agreed to together.   Teach them they can come to you with both positive and negative experiences.  Children need someone they can reach out to, to discuss fun and less fun topics. You can offer them your support by being open, having no judgment and by encouraging them to form their own opinions. If you want children to understand certain values, it’s important to talk to them about it and explain why these are important for you, for your religion/believes and your culture.   Teach them to ask you or other adults they trust for help when they are in a situation they’d rather not be in.  Everyone can get into a situation they didn’t want to be in, asking for help is always a good idea. Teach them not everyone on the internet has good intentions and people sometimes pretend to be someone else.  Children have a tendency to easily trust people and can forget that some don’t have good intentions or might pretend to be someone else. Trust is a beautiful thing, but it’s important for kids to be alert and conscious. Try to make clear agreements about what they can and can’t share, such as (home) addresses, phone numbers and passwords. Teach them the internet is a place where you can easily find information, but that not everything is true.  Google can be your best friend, there’s a lot of information out there. It’s important to know that not everything that’s posted on the internet is true. Some things that are written online differ from reality. Don’t worry if something goes wrong  Kids can do certain things that you, as a parent, would have liked to see differently. They are exploring boundaries and they make mistakes, that's how they learn. As long as you openly communicate with them and show them their own responsibility, they will approach you faster to have an open conversation about it. Teach them that there are things on the internet you’d rather not see.  Google and social media contain a lot of photos and videos you’d rather not see. Prepare your kids and discuss how they could potentially respond if they receive something they don’t want to see. For example: “Never forward photos or videos someone sent to you”. Teach them about privacy settings  A lot of apps automatically create an open profile when creating one. Teach your kids that it's safer to create a private account, to not accept every friend request and how to respond when they receive a message from someone they don't know. Teach them to treat others and themselves with respect  Tell your kids that if there is something they wouldn’t like if it was done to them, they shouldn’t do it to someone else either. That's how they learn about respecting other people's boundaries. Besides this, it’s also important kids don’t do anything that they don't want to do or like. That's how they learn to respect their own boundaries. Teach your kids about norms and values and explain it to them.  If your own culture or religion brought you certain ideas about sexuality and online which you would like to teach your kids, it’s important to explain what is expected from them and why that's important. If they understand why you want to share certain values, it makes it easier for them to relate.