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Also, sharing sexy pictures or being overtly sexual online leaves an unwanted legacy, with or without creepy adults, so we need to teach kids about being mindful about their digital footprint. For instance, kids should never share a phone number, address, or even last name with someone they’ve never met. So before they start chatting with anyone online, kids need to know some basic digital citizenship and online privacy information.
Predators 2010 online Offline#
The strategy: We often tell kids not to talk to strangers or share personal information, but a kid’s online relationships can feel just as real as their offline ones. Melania Trump, the wife of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, speaks during a rally for her husband on Novemat the Main Line Sports Center in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. Sometimes if a kid shares one compromising picture, a predator will engage in “ sextortion,” which involves demanding more pictures or contact under threat of exposure or harm.Once they’ve selected someone, they may begin the grooming phase, which often involves friending the target’s contacts, engaging in increasingly personal conversations to build trust, taking the conversation to other platforms (like instant messaging), requesting pictures, and finally requesting offline contact.In contrast, some predators engage in “bunny hunting,” which is the process of picking a potential victim for “grooming”: They’ll look at social media posts and public chats to learn about the kid first.Some predators initiate sexual talk or request pictures immediately and back off if refused.Most reveal that they’re older – which is especially appealing to 12-to-15-year-olds who are most often targeted. Only 5 percent of online predators pretend they’re kids.The concern: I don’t even understand how this works – does an adult pose as a kid, then ask to meet? If your kid’s a gamer, use these questions to probe deeper: Do you like multiplayer games – and why? Do you chat with others while you’re gaming? What’s been your experience so far? What would you do if someone you didn’t know contacted you? Help them set privacy settings to limit the contacts in their games. Find out how they chat – is it through an app or through their phone’s SMS texting? (If they’re using an app, it won’t be easy for you to see it, so ask to do occasional spot checks.) Make rules around who they can chat with – for instance, only people they know in real life.

Set rules about times and places for device use – for example, banning phones and tablets from bedrooms. If they’re on social media, friend or follow them. The strategy: First, stay on top of what your kid is doing online by asking them which apps, games, and other tech they use. What parents should know about videochat, live-streaming apps
