During the summer months, the internet can be an essential tool for
children and families, as digital technology can provide educational material and entertainment
for kids while helping them stay connected with friends and classmates. At the same time,
increased online presence, if unmonitored, may expose children to potentially adverse effects,
including predatory individuals and cyberbullying.
“Ensuring the safety of the most vulnerable in our society is my Office’s highest priority,” said
Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. “Protecting children and
helping them develop and maintain healthy online behaviors requires a concerted effort by
everyone entrusted with the well-being of young people. Our tips and tools can aid parents,
guardians, caregivers, and children understand the risks that lurk online and how to stay safe in
the digital realm.”
Engaging in discussions about online safety with children at an early age and maintaining those
conversations over time can help them better navigate the online sphere. The following topics
can facilitate conversations about enhancing children’s cyber safety:
Elementary School-Age Children:
• Discuss Internet Safety and Develop an Online Safety Plan for engaging in online
activity. Establish clear guidelines, teach children to spot red flags, and reinforce open
communication.
• Review Games, Apps, and Social Media Sites before they are downloaded, paying
special attention to apps and sites that feature end-to-end encryption, direct messaging,
video chats, file uploads, and user anonymity, which are frequently exploited by online
child predators. Make the profile private and teach children NOT to accept requests from
people you don’t know in real life.
• Adjust Privacy Settings and Use Parental Controls for online games, apps, social
medial sites, and electronic devices. Extra caution should be used in gaming platforms
that can commonly expose children to cyberbullying, scams, predators, and inappropriate
content.
• Supervise Young Children’s Use of the Internet and Gaming Platforms, including
periodically checking their profiles and posts. Keep electronic devices in open and
common areas and consider setting time limits for their use.
• Encourage Children to Tell a Parent, Guardian, or Other Trusted Adult if anyone
asks them to engage in inappropriate behavior.
Middle School and High School-Age Children:
• Establish the Importance of Online Privacy, by emphasizing the dangers of sharing
personal information, photos, and videos online especially in public forums or with
people they don’t know in real life. Explain that sharing with friends can also lead to
concerns because of re-sharing, and help children understand that once images are posted
online, they will remain permanently accessible on the internet.
• Teach Children About Body Safety and Boundaries, including the importance of
saying ‘no’ to inappropriate requests in the physical and the virtual world. Remain
vigilant against sextortion schemes that routinely target children using common social
media sites, gaming sites, or video chat applications.
• Develop Healthy Skepticism by encouraging children to challenge the authenticity of
what they see and read in online posts, messages, forums, and social media platforms. In
particular, urge minors to be wary of online predators using fake accounts to pose as their
peers and using fake photos or videos to lure children into sharing pictures and videos of
themselves, which can easily lead to a sextortion scheme.
• Be Alert to Potential Signs of Abuse, including changes in children’s use of electronic
devices, attempts to conceal online activity, withdrawn behavior, angry outbursts,
anxiety, and depression.
• Proactively Engage in Discussions About the Pitfalls of Artificial Intelligence which
can be misused by child predators and others to cyberbully children and produce fake
content that looks real.
Adolescents and Young Adults:
• Reinforce Strong Online Habits such as robust passwords, two-factor authentication,
using a password manager, and applying routine system updates on devices and operation
systems.
• Build Upon Privacy Lessons with an emphasis on how over-sharing personal
information on social media platforms can lead to potential adverse impacts, to include
online reputations and cyberbullying.
• Avoid Dangerous Distractions through the responsible use of devices while driving and
remain extra vigilant against device and password theft.
• Be Vigilant Against Scams prevalent on ads that appear on shopping platforms and
other social media sites that can lead to the fraudulent sale of defective or counterfeit
items or to non-delivery of purchased items.
• Protect Against Phishing schemes in texts, emails, and social media posts where
fraudsters can impersonate a trusted individual or organization and trick users into
providing login credentials, sending money through Cash App, Zelle, or Venmo, or
unwittingly installing malware on devices.
Immediately Report Suspected Online Enticement or Exploitation of a Child by alerting law
enforcement or filing a report with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
(NCMEC) at 1-800-843-5678 or report.cybertip.org.
For More Information, Helpful Tools and Additional Resources please visit
https://www.justice.gov/criminal/criminal-ceos/keeping-children-safe-online.
To Learn More About the U.S. Attorney’s Office Project Safe Childhood initiative go to
https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdnc/project-safe-childhood.
