How We Got Cyber Smart

How We Got Cyber Smart addresses cyber safety, cyber bullying and online safety for elementary school-aged children.

It follows the adventures of two kids Olivia and Jack, as they navigate the online world and tells the story of how they became cyber smart and dealt with their online bully. It provides practical advice to parents and children in how to protect themselves online and look after their safety.

The information pulls from realistic online events as the author explains the dangers of the Internet in terms children will understand. It incorporates the challenge of cyber safety in today’s world and addresses this concern in the lives of two school-aged children and how their parents help navigate their online experiences. This book is a helpful tool for all parents, caregivers and teachers of school-aged children to help start the conversation about online safety and safe online habits.

More online safety and cyber bullying information about how we got cyber smart can be found at howwegotcybersmart.com

My Review

In today’s day and age, the internet is everywhere. With the pandemic even schooling is done online from home. Teaching your children the importance of internet safety is detrimental. This book does an incredible job at doing just that. Katarina describes some of the bad things that can happen – especially since you are dealing with people you don’t know. Emphasizing the importance of seeking or a trusted adult if anything odd every happens. There are great resources provided in the back of the book as well. I think this is a book that needs to be in every home and school – our kids need this protection. Great book!

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About The Author

I am a passionate mom of 2 boys and as they grew and wanted to explore the online world, I became concerned about the risks they were exposed to through their online interactions. As a technology communications professional, I am keenly aware of both the positive and negative experiences that can occur online. However, speaking to my friends and seeing what my boys were learning at school, I became concerned that there was a lack of child-friendly and accessible resources available to help families navigate online safety.

This drove my desire to create resources to help parents, caregivers, and educators communicate with elementary school-aged children about staying safe online. Children will best absorb essential lessons through the joy of reading and play, so my resources are not based on fear and are non-threatening. In addition, they aim to spark conversation and so empower a child’s trusted adults to reinforce these lessons.

My passion for raising awareness of and encouraging conversations with children about online safety has seen me contribute to the new Women in Security Online Magazine and ySafe, Australia’s leading Cyber Safety education provider.

My children’s book “How We Got Cyber Smart” follows twins Olivia and Jack (who love technology – of course!) – as they bump up against some genuine online bullying issues. With the help of their parents, the pair learn to identify and navigate a range of online challenges.The book engages children through child-friendly language, and thanks to my amazing illustrator Katerina Matkovic, fun illustrations. There are also helpful tips for kids and parents.

I aimed to deliver positive messages about getting the best out of technology while protecting against the worst. For example, “Technology is so awesome, it connects us instantly to anywhere on Earth, but it’s very important to be careful when you’re online.”

I’m very proud Family Zone, and other acclaimed cyber and parenting experts have enthusiastically endorsed my book, including Australia’s safety commissioner Julie Inman Grant, Maggie Dent, Jordan Foster and Dr Kristy Goodwin, who has praised it as “a great book for parents, educators and health professionals wanting to talk to kids about online safety”

What is most important to me is to reach as many families as possible with the message of online safety. Currently, the average time a parent will spend talking to their children about online safety is 46 minutes during their entire lives!

(Source https://www.kaspersky.com/about/press-releases/2019_parents-are-worried-about-their-childs-online-safety).

How We Got Cyber Smart is a tool to help families start conversations about staying safe online and increase this average. There are so many children at risk of being exploited, abused, bullied and harassed online. We can help curb this by educating ourselves and sharing knowledge about how to stay safe online, what to do if you are faced with an issue, and where to go for help.

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Huge thanks to Lisa for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. To get your hands on a copy just click the link below!

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Thank you for stopping by, have a wonderful day!