Children Should Begin Learning Cybersecurity the Moment They Switch On Their First Tablet

This Christmas holiday marked a significant milestone for my daughters—they received their first tablet, a popular model from a leading manufacturer known for its kid-friendly features and robust design. As a firm believer in the balanced use of smart devices as educational tools for children of all ages, I also understand the need to teach responsibility and awareness from the onset of their digital journey. These devices open up a world of possibilities, but they also expose young users to various online threats. It's crucial for children to not only recognize these risks but also to learn how to defend themselves against them, laying the foundation for a culture of cybersecurity awareness from a young age.

Much like training wheels on a bicycle, our initial guidance helps stabilize and steer them in their early digital experiences. Eventually, just as we remove the training wheels to let them ride independently, we gradually loosen our assistance with technology, empowering them to navigate the digital world safely and confidently on their own.

A first challenge arose from the so-called 'kids app subscription' of this tablet, which was allegedly designed to help parents filter age-appropriate content. However, it turned out to be a means to inundate my kids with previews of additional apps on top of the few that we had chosen together, making it impossible to remove these unnecessary recommendations.

The lesson learned was that the only way to create a safe digital environment for a child is to spend the necessary time customizing every single aspect of these supposedly kid-friendly devices. This ensures that they are exposed only to content you deem appropriate, and it's important never to rely on any platform that claims to do this job for you.

After establishing a safe baseline, I began to consider a plan for the next steps: a high-level guide to support young digital natives. My thoughts and recommendations on this are detailed in the following paragraphs.

Cybersecurity Education for Young Children (Ages 3-5)

The journey of introducing cybersecurity to children starts with the youngest users. At this early stage, education focuses more on setting boundaries than delving into the intricacies of cybersecurity. It’s about instilling basic principles such as not clicking on unfamiliar links or talking to strangers online. To effectively convey these concepts, several strategies can be employed:

• Simple Concepts and Supervised Interaction: Explain the concept of personal information and its importance in privacy. Reinforce this through everyday examples and simple games like 'Internet Safety Hangman'.
  

• Parental Controls: Emphasize the use of child-friendly apps like 'Kiddle', a visual search engine designed for kids, to ensure exposure to age-appropriate content.

  
  

• Storytelling: Utilize storytelling as a powerful tool for teaching online safety in an engaging manner, with books such as 'Once Upon a Time... Online' by David Bedford.

  
  

• Practical Tips for Parents: Provide detailed tips on how parents can supervise their children’s online activities. This includes setting up safe browsing modes, monitoring screen time, and actively participating in their children's digital exploration.

  
  

Implementing these strategies lays a strong foundation for safe and responsible digital behavior from a young age.

Guiding School-Aged Children (Ages 6-8)

As children grow and become more independent in their internet use, our educational approach needs to evolve to match their developmental stage. This period is crucial for introducing and reinforcing key cybersecurity concepts:

• Cyber Etiquette: Teach respectful online communication and emphasize the permanence of digital actions. Interactive books like 'Chicken Clicking' by Jeanne Willis can be great resources to illustrate these points.

  
  

• Basic Online Safety Rules: Introduce rules such as avoiding pop-ups and not downloading unknown files. Educational games like 'Cyber-Five' can make learning these rules engaging and memorable.

• Interactive Learning: Utilize tools like 'Interland' by Google, which simulate safe online navigation in a fun and interactive way, making the learning experience more effective.

  
  

• Password Security and Privacy Settings: Discuss the importance of strong password creation and maintaining appropriate privacy settings on various platforms.

• Digital Footprints: Have conversations about the long-lasting nature of digital footprints and the importance of thinking critically about one’s online actions.

• Critical Thinking: Encourage children to critically evaluate the information they encounter online, through family discussions, guided internet sessions, and utilizing age-appropriate educational resources.

• Parent and Educator Involvement: Highlight the crucial role of parents and educators in reinforcing these concepts. Regular conversations, monitored internet sessions, and active involvement in children's online activities are key to reinforcing their learning.

These strategies help in guiding school-aged children to navigate the online world more safely and responsibly, arming them with the necessary tools to make informed decisions as they explore the digital landscape.

For Tweens (Ages 9-12):

For tweens aged 9 to 12, the focus of cybersecurity education shifts to more advanced concepts, accommodating their growing independence and curiosity about the online world:

• Privacy Education: Illustrate the importance of privacy settings using relatable examples from platforms familiar to them, such as 'Roblox'. Teach them how to manage these settings effectively to safeguard their personal information.
  
• Recognizing Online Threats: Educate them on identifying and avoiding common online scams. Google's 'Be Internet Awesome'is an excellent, free resource that includes 'Interland', an interactive game that teaches kids crucial lessons about online safety. Through engaging activities, it helps children learn to recognize the signs of phishing emails and other common online threats. This fun and educational approach reinforces the importance of vigilance and equips them with the skills needed to identify such risks during their digital activities.
  
• Creating Strong Passwords: Introduce them to interactive tools like 'Password Bird' which can help in understanding the concept of strong, unique passwords. This not only makes learning about password security engaging but also instills practical skills they can apply in their digital interactions.

These strategies are designed to empower tweens with the knowledge and tools they need to navigate the increasingly complex online environment safely and responsibly

Empowering Teens (Ages 13-18):

Teenage years bring new challenges as adolescents start exploring the internet more independently. This is a critical time to discuss complex issues like cybersecurity threats, identity theft, and ethical behavior online. Encourage them to be not just consumers of digital content but also responsible digital citizens.

For Early Teens (Ages 13-15):

• Social Media Savvy: It's crucial to delve into the impact of social media, especially regarding the consequences of oversharing and the permanence of online actions. Tools like 'Digital Compass' by Common Sense Education can be incredibly helpful in this regard. Designed specifically for teens, it offers interactive games and scenarios that illustrate the real-life implications of their digital choices on social media platforms. By engaging with case studies and incidents presented through this tool, teens can better comprehend the long-term effects of their online behavior, fostering a deeper understanding and more responsible use of social media.
  

• Critical Thinking: It's essential to foster critical thinking about online information and news. The News Literacy Project's Checkologyvirtual classroom is an excellent resource that can be instrumental in helping teens identify fake news. This platform offers interactive lessons and exercises designed to teach students how to discern credible information, recognize biases, and evaluate sources. Engaging with this platform can empower teens to become more discerning consumers and sharers of news and information online
  

• Basic Cyber Hygiene: Covering the basics of cybersecurity is crucial for teenagers. This includes understanding the use of antivirus software, the risks associated with public networks, and the importance of secure Wi-Fi practices. A great resource for this is the 'Cyber Aces Online' course by the SANS Institute. It's a free, entry-level course specifically designed for young learners to grasp fundamental cybersecurity concepts. Through engaging modules, it covers topics like operating systems security, networking, and system administration, offering a practical and comprehensive introduction to the world of digital security. This educational approach empowers teens with the knowledge to navigate the online world more safely and make informed decisions about their cyber activities.
  

• Engaging in Healthy Online Behaviors: Emphasize the balance between online and offline life, encouraging activities that do not involve screens, and stressing the importance of real-world interactions.

  
  

For Older Teens (Ages 16-18):

• Advanced Security Practices: For older teens, it's crucial to delve into more complex cybersecurity concepts such as encryption, two-factor authentication, and the intricacies of digital laws and rights. Utilizing practical tools and real-world examples can significantly aid in deepening their understanding of these topics. For a more insightful exploration, especially in the realm of cryptography, I recommend referring to one of my previous articlesthat discusses the importance of creating a cryptography-aware community.
  
• Career Exploration: For teenagers considering a future in cybersecurity, understanding the myriad of career paths available in this field is crucial. The NICE(National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education) Framework is an invaluable resource in this regard. It categorizes and describes various roles and responsibilities in the cybersecurity industry, offering a clear view of potential career paths.
  
• Real-World Implications: Highlight the serious implications of cyber threats through discussion of significant cybercrime cases, like the 'WannaCry' ransomware attack.

Teens in these age groups are at a pivotal point where their online activities start to have real-world implications. Providing them with the right tools, knowledge, and ethical understanding is key to helping them navigate the digital world safely and make informed decisions.

Practical Tools and Resources

To support this educational journey in cybersecurity, a variety of free tools and resources are available:

• Parental Control Software: Barkoffers a solution for monitoring and limiting internet use for young children. While not entirely free, Bark provides comprehensive features for ensuring online safety and is highly recommended for parents looking to protect their children from various online threats.
  
• Educational Platforms:
  • Code.org: Provides free, interactive coding lessons for children of all ages, introducing them to basic cybersecurity concepts.
  • CyberPatriot:The Air Force Association’s National Youth Cyber Education Program, which includes CyberPatriot, offers various resources to spark interest in cybersecurity.
    
• For Teens:

  • Hackathons and Coding Camps: Look for local or online hackathons and coding camps that often offer free or sponsored participation. These events allow teens to apply their cybersecurity knowledge in practical scenarios. You can find a few examples in my previous article on a Structured approach to Cybersecurity learning.

    
    

These resources cater to different age groups and learning stages, making them ideal for nurturing a thorough understanding of cybersecurity from a young age.

Building a Cyber-Smart Generation

The overarching goal of this educational journey extends beyond merely protecting our children, it's about empowering them. By methodically building their understanding of the digital world and its inherent risks, we are equipping them not only for the internet of today but also for the continuously evolving digital landscape of tomorrow. As they mature, our role as guides shifts from exerting control to providing advisory support. This transition is crucial in fostering independent, responsible, and well-informed digital natives. These individuals will not only be prepared to confidently tackle the challenges and opportunities of the digital age, but they may also be inspired to consider careers in the dynamic and ever-expanding field of cybersecurity.