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This holiday season: Be sure to protect kids

A great deal of the consumer protection advice we receive during the holidays amounts to common sense. How could a reasonably intelligent adult fall for some of the schemes, after all?

But some consumer protection watchdogs are offering an important reminder: Adults may have nothing to do with it.

Many youngsters will receive electronic devices, often internet-capable, for Christmas. That may make them susceptible to schemes — some involving money, others creating real danger to the children.

Experts advise steps such as monitoring youngsters’ internet use; establishing and enforcing rules; warning children not to download anything; and ensuring privacy settings for services, such as social media, are appropriate.

It is good advice, coming as it does during a time when adults are so eager to make children on our shopping lists happy that we may forget the need to keep them safe from scammers and predators.

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