Keep Your Kids Safe
Mxit Safety Guidelines
1. Understanding the environment in which your child is communicating is of utmost importance to ensure their safety.
2. Just as you wouldn't let your child stay over at a friend's house without knowing the family, so the technology age compels one to be tech savvy and to educate your child about potential dangers.
3. If your child is a Mxit user, install Mxit on your phone and add your child as a contact. This will allow you to monitor how much time they spend on the platform.
4. To install Mxit on your phone, open your web browser and type in m.mxit.com, then follow the download prompts. Once installed, find Mxit under 'downloads' or 'applications' on your phone and follow the registration process.
5. Spend some time exploring and navigating your way through Mxit to understand the interactions your child could be engaged in.
6. Decide to have regular, open and honest discussions with your child about Mxit. Tell them about the potential dangers of the online space, and ask them to tell you if they ever feel unsafe, or if they ever receive pictures that make them feel uncomfortable.
7. If you notice that your child's use of Mxit suddenly drops, check to see if they have a secret phone or profile (it could simply mean that they are out of airtime, but check nevertheless).
8. Check your child's contact list regularly and if you see a profile of someone who makes you feel uncomfortable, discuss it openly with your child.
9. Constantly remind your child (every day if you need to) about the danger of speaking to strangers and how important it is to not hand out personal information on Mxit.
10. Advise your child that they should never, under any circumstances, agree to a private offline chat with a stranger.
11. If your child fails to heed your warnings and advice, simply install the chatroom blocking feature (see Mxit / Info [situated on MXit's login menu] / Chat Zone Block). Frank discussion and education is a suggested first port of call, as restricting one social media platform could mean they will access another platform, where no moderation takes place and is not as 'secure'.
12. Furthermore, help your child understand why they should never forward or post pictures that could cause them embarrassment.
13. For further helpful tips see www.parentscorner.org.za
14. If you would rather your child not use Mxit at all, then purchase a phone for your child that does not support Java or 3rd party application downloads. Otherwise, talk to your service provider about their content management system which allows cellphone users to block access to certain content services and websites.
2. Just as you wouldn't let your child stay over at a friend's house without knowing the family, so the technology age compels one to be tech savvy and to educate your child about potential dangers.
3. If your child is a Mxit user, install Mxit on your phone and add your child as a contact. This will allow you to monitor how much time they spend on the platform.
4. To install Mxit on your phone, open your web browser and type in m.mxit.com, then follow the download prompts. Once installed, find Mxit under 'downloads' or 'applications' on your phone and follow the registration process.
5. Spend some time exploring and navigating your way through Mxit to understand the interactions your child could be engaged in.
6. Decide to have regular, open and honest discussions with your child about Mxit. Tell them about the potential dangers of the online space, and ask them to tell you if they ever feel unsafe, or if they ever receive pictures that make them feel uncomfortable.
7. If you notice that your child's use of Mxit suddenly drops, check to see if they have a secret phone or profile (it could simply mean that they are out of airtime, but check nevertheless).
8. Check your child's contact list regularly and if you see a profile of someone who makes you feel uncomfortable, discuss it openly with your child.
9. Constantly remind your child (every day if you need to) about the danger of speaking to strangers and how important it is to not hand out personal information on Mxit.
10. Advise your child that they should never, under any circumstances, agree to a private offline chat with a stranger.
11. If your child fails to heed your warnings and advice, simply install the chatroom blocking feature (see Mxit / Info [situated on MXit's login menu] / Chat Zone Block). Frank discussion and education is a suggested first port of call, as restricting one social media platform could mean they will access another platform, where no moderation takes place and is not as 'secure'.
12. Furthermore, help your child understand why they should never forward or post pictures that could cause them embarrassment.
13. For further helpful tips see www.parentscorner.org.za
14. If you would rather your child not use Mxit at all, then purchase a phone for your child that does not support Java or 3rd party application downloads. Otherwise, talk to your service provider about their content management system which allows cellphone users to block access to certain content services and websites.