Family Online Safety Conversation Guide

Start with curiosity, not panic

Children are more likely to ask for help when adults stay calm. Start by asking what apps, games, chats, and creators they enjoy. Ask what feels fun, what feels annoying, and what ever feels uncomfortable.

Make clear that asking for help will not automatically mean losing the device. Children who fear punishment may hide problems until the situation becomes more serious.

Questions that open useful conversations

• Who can contact you in this app or game?
• What would you do if someone asked to move the conversation to another platform?
• What personal information should stay private?
• Who are three adults you can go to if someone pressures, threatens, or embarrasses you online?
• What should we do as a family if an image, message, or post gets shared without permission?

Family agreements worth writing down

• Keep accounts private unless a parent or caregiver agrees otherwise.
• Use strong, unique passwords and turn on multifactor authentication when available.
• Do not share location, school, address, phone number, passwords, or financial details in chats or profiles.
• Pause before sending photos or videos. Once shared, control can be lost.
• Tell a trusted adult immediately if someone threatens, pressures, blackmails, or asks for secrecy.

Warning signs adults should take seriously

• A child becomes secretive, anxious, withdrawn, or unusually protective of a device.
• A new online contact asks to move to private messaging, encrypted chat, video, or another platform.
• Someone sends gifts, money, game currency, threats, or sexualized requests.
• A child receives repeated requests for images, livestreams, or in-person meetings.
• A child says they made a mistake online and seems afraid to explain.

If something has already happened

Stay calm, preserve what you can, and get help. If anyone is in immediate danger, call 911 or local police. Suspected child sexual exploitation can be reported to NCMEC's CyberTipline. If explicit content from before someone turned 18 may be online, NCMEC's Take It Down service may help limit spread.