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Parents naturally want the best things for their children. Some would even prepare before their kids are born, just to be assured of their children’s security once they’re finally out in the world. It is perhaps an irrevocable reality of human nature for us to want to protect our children in every way we can. However, no matter how hard we try to keep them away from trouble, there are inescapable threats that could affect our children anytime. Knowing this may be quite scary but it is a reality we need to prepare for. Considering growing online engagement of children, one of the modern threats we need to understand and be aware of is identity theft. Sadly, scammers do not make any exceptions when picking their victims. In order to get the information they need, they go as far as luring young children into divulging personal information that could affect them adversely later on. Hence, despite their young age, they need to be oriented about ID theft protection. The question is how can this be done? Educating the Kids on ID Theft Protection The main factor that makes children more predisposed to being victims of identity theft is their lack of proper understanding about what ID theft is. To make things worse, it is often difficult to identify ID theft in our children’s records, as they have to be of the right age (16) before they can acquire a credit record (Kish). Because of this, it is imperative to take extra precautions and practice child ID theft protection as early as possible and while you’re at it, you might as well impart some ideas about credit monitoring to your child so he or she may learn how to protect his or her information. The following are tips on how and what to teach your kids about ID theft protection: - Let the kids know that they cannot divulge their social security number to anyone – Explain to your kids that their social security number is like an ID code, which identifies them uniquely from all other kids. Explain why this should be kept a secret and remember that you don’t have to make him memorize this unless he’s 16 years of age.
- Lecture kids on how to use the internet safely – Explain the limits of information sharing. Make it clear that they cannot share mom and dad’s social security number, bank details and credit card information to anyone. Moreover, advise them not to disclose any of their personal information unless permitted by either mom or dad.
- Let the kids know that from time to time, you’d have to make sure their social networking profiles are safe – This is crucial as most kids would frown at the thought of you spying on their social networking profiles. Explain your purpose properly and emphasize that you only want to make sure that their profiles are free from scammers and fraudulent people.
- Lecture them on how to secure their email accounts – it is important that children know which mails contain private information so they can handle them with extra precaution.
- Watch your kids’ mailboxes, both online and offline – Whether it be electronic mail or mails that come into your mailbox, make sure that your kids are exchanging messages with people you know and trust. Do not forget to explain to the kids why this is important. (Parker)
As parents, nothing can be more important that making sure your children are always safe. ID theft prevention through credit monitoring is an important thing that we all have to understand as responsible parents. In as much as we would want to keep our personal information secure, we also want the same for our kids, who are more susceptible to the risks of ID theft. However, in situations like this, it may not be enough that we, as parents, know these things. Children need to have an idea of what ID theft is, how it happens and how it can affect them, especially since they are becoming more and more active and engaged in the online world. Amy is an active blogger who is fond of sharing interesting finance related articles to encourage people to manage and protect their finances. She also covers topics what enhanced identity theft protection should have and effects tips on id theft protection.
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