At the GMAU we take the safety and security of all our students very seriously, especially the younger ones.


To help protect students under the age of 18 from online threats, their Account Settings are automatically set to...

  • OFF = Include me in Student Locator results
  • ON = Make my Profile Page private


These settings cannot be changed until such students reach the age of 18.


The GMAU also has a self-policing discussion-board system in which students can and do alert our operations team about inappropriate posts. We check these alerts regularly, and if we see that any discussion-board post includes inappropriate language or any aggressive, abusive, bullying, contentious or sexual content, it is removed. In serious cases, students who make inappropriate posts on the GMAU discussion boards are expelled from the university.


9 Internet Safety Tips for Children


Here's 9 tips to help you further protect your child(ren) on the GMAU website and the internet in general:


1. Talk openly with your child about their online activity


As soon as your child starts accessing the internet, talk to him/her about what s/he's watching, reading, and who s/he's communicating with online. Keep the conversation going as s/he gets older. Ask your child what discussion boards and sites s/he visits or apps s/he uses, write a list, and look at them together. Talk to your child about what you think is appropriate, and remind him/her that this may be different for other parents and their kids.


It’s vital to teach your child about his/her online reputation, too, and how s/he must be careful about how s/he behaves, interacts with people, and represent him- or herself in such a public forum. Be sure to remind him/her that the internet isn’t private.


2. Keep screens and devices where you can see them


Always monitor your child’s time online, particularly younger children. Keep the computer in a central spot where it’s easy for you to keep an eye on what your child is viewing and doing online. For mobile devices, you can set them to forget Wi-Fi passcodes so your child can't go online without you knowing. You can also try to make an agreement that there are no devices allowed in bedrooms.


For younger children, you might also consider checking browser histories after your child has been online to see what sites s/he's visiting. This approach gets harder, of course, as children grow older and work out how to clear browser histories. This is more reason to open the lines of communication about internet use at an early age.


3. Know your parental controls


Innocent searches online can lead to not-so-innocent results. So, it’s important for you to know how to use the parental controls and search restrictions offered by various sites, web browsers, internet service providers, and devices. 


On the GMAU site, you can choose to turn on the Make my Student Activity private setting for your child in the Account Settings area on his/her My Account page for added protection.


Please see Parental Controls for security tools and features that offer extra protection and control over your child's internet browsing.


4. Know who your children’s online friends are


As adults, we know that some people online aren’t who they say they are. But children can be naïve about who they're chatting with if they're not taught about this from an early age.


Make sure you become friends and contacts within your child’s GMAU contacts and social-media circles and ensure you monitor their emails and posts. Your child may resist but tell him/her that this is one of the conditions of being a GMAU student and for being allowed to access the internet.


5. Be ‘share aware’ to protect privacy


If your child is a regular user of GMAU discussion boards, the GMAU Facebook Community, and/or other social networks, s/he must be aware of the risks of making personal information and images public once s/he posts it. While s/he won’t fully understand the consequences of revealing personal information online, you should teach him/her to be cautious and thoughtful about what s/he posts and shares. Encourage your child to think about whether posting any personal information (name, phone number, home address, email, name of school, etc.) or photo is something s/he would give to a stranger. If the answer is no, don’t post it.


If your child is sharing photos or posts online, ask him/her to let you see in advance what s/he's sharing.


6. Keep control of your family’s digital footprint


Every picture and personal detail that's posted and shared on social media and the internet contributes to someone’s digital footprint. The big risk with this is that once information is shared publicly, it can be used in ways you may not expect and cannot control. You should also assume that anything that's put online is permanent (it can sometimes be deleted but not always before others see it and save it). For this reason, children need to be smart about protecting their personal information and images. The same goes for you if you regularly post pictures of yourself or your child online.


Teach your child to stay in control of his/her digital footprint by only sharing with people they know and trust. Rather than posting to everyone on the GMAU site and social media in general, encourage him/her to be selective and use the privacy settings on the sites s/he uses.


7. Teach your child to keep his/her location private


Most apps, networks, and devices have geo-tagging features that make your whereabouts public and can lead someone directly to you. These features should be turned off for obvious privacy and safety reasons. Digital photos also contain metadata (information about time, date, and GPS coordinates) that may reveal more than intended. Some social-media platforms automatically hide or remove this data, but not all. So, do your homework and know how much info you and your child are sharing.


8. Be social-network savvy


Educate yourself on ways to be safe on social networks so you can give the best advice to your child(ren). Sign up to the social networks and apps your child's using and find out how to use the privacy settings and reporting mechanisms. Talk about how s/he can stay safe on social networks, including talking to a trusted person when s/he's worried, and being aware of what constitutes online bullying – both as a perpetrator and a victim.


If your child uses GMAU discussion boards, the GMAU Facebook Community, and/or social networks in general, be sure s/he knows how to:

  • Report inappropriate and/or offensive posts
  • Keep his/her information private
  • Block someone (where available).


9. Lead by example


Always model the kind of positive online behaviour you would like your child to use. If s/he sees you being cautious and respectable when you're online, s/he's more likely to follow in your footsteps. 


Ultimately, you don’t want to instil fear in your child or prevent him/her from experiencing the many educational, entertaining, social, and other benefits of the internet. Instead, give them the skills and knowledge they need to know how to make the most of it while avoiding the dangers.


Useful Websites