Online Victims

Research shows that children aged 8 to 13 are at the highest risk of becoming victims of child pornography, and that online grooming of children is the technique most used by predators to gain access to children. Over 14,400 children have been identified as victims of sexploitation and child pornography, with more than 232 million images of child pornography distributed and shared.

If you haven’t had a conversation with your middle schooler about online safety, it’s not too late. There are some basic Internet safety tips you can easily and clearly teach to get the message across that, although this resource is an amazing tool, the Internet is also a place where privacy is breached, predators seek out their victims, identities are stolen, and lives can be ruined. Talk to your child about these issues using real-life examples of online predators and cyberbullying. Discuss how and what your child uses the Internet for, what types of platforms they’re on, their online reputation, and if they’ve ever felt unsafe or identified unsafe situations while online.

It’s important to remember junior high school students are still children, and their brains haven’t yet fully developed to be able to think before they click.

Signs & Behaviors

Identifies safe online behavior

Develops a system of positive digital citizenship

Shares their use with you and tells you if something happened that made them feel uncomfortable, unsafe or hurt

Develops a plan of how to avoid sharing personal information

Recognizes online scams and predatory grooming behaviors

Knows the dangers of engaging with unknown people online

Shows you anything dangerous they see or stumble upon

Doesn’t respond to online threats

Doesn’t send pictures of themselves to unknown people

Doesn’t send naked or inappropriate pictures to anyone (even people they think they know)

Doesn’t respond to unsolicited emails, texts, chats or messages

What you can do

Teach them how to verify someone’s identity

Make sure they understand how to identify a safe link

Tell them not to click on pop-ups that ask for their information

Don’t open emails from unknown users or click on links in messages from unknown senders

Talk to them about online grooming behaviors

Teach them what sextortion and sexploitation mean

Teach them how to identify an online scam

Emphasize the need to protect personal information

Create passwords and share them with trusted adults only

Teach them how to identify cyberbullying and not participate in it (and how to do something positive to counteract it)

Teach them to protect their online reputation and presence

Talk to them about their permanent digital thumbprint

Conversation starters

“What are the risks of being online? What are the benefits?”

“How do you really know who you’re talking to when you’re on the Internet?”

“What are signs that you’re being exposed to something potentially dangerous online?”

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