It is important that you help your children create strong and unique passwords to protect their online accounts.
Children are curious and will want to know the why’s – so tell them the possible dangers as you go along!
Here are some thoughts and tips to help you along. Start by explaining that their passwords need to be:
Unique
The hacker is not a nice person and might try and access their accounts and their personal information
Create a hacking game and ask them to crack the code:
- 1 2 3 _ 5 6
- Pa__wo_d
- _ello
Passwords need to be longer and more memorable and not contain any private information like their name, address, phone number etc.
Think of a fun phrase or an event that they remember:
- My first football game was in 2020
- Use the first letter from that phrase: mffgwi2020
- Change some letters into symbols or special characters: mffgw!2020
- Make some uppercase and some lowercase: Mffgw!2020
- Now ask them to write it down a few times to remember it
Make it memorable
- Use a different unique password for each account
- Don’t use personal information, name, address, phone number when creating a password
- Use one that’s easy to guess – like a nickname or favourite soccer team
- Ask them to share it with you so that they will have it safe should they forget
- Don’t give it to anyone other than the trusted parent
Logging out: Teach them how to log out of an account when they have finished especially on a public computer and very important:
Lastly, remind your children: Don’t tick “remember my password” when using a public computer!