- Forges a relationship with a young victim online and then later arranges to meet and abuse the child; or
- Coerces a child into producing sexually explicit images or videos through manipulation, gifts, or threats—a crime called sextortion.”[1]
The FBI suggests that “The most important advice for parents is to have open and ongoing conversations about safe and appropriate online behavior. Other advice to consider:
- Educate yourself about the websites, software, games, and apps that your child uses.
- Check their social media and gaming profiles and posts. Have conversations about what is appropriate to say or share.
- Explain to your kids that once images or comments are posted online they can be shared with anyone and never truly disappear.
- Make sure your kids use privacy settings to restrict access to their online profiles.
- Tell your children to be extremely wary when communicating with anyone online who they do not know in real life.
- Encourage kids to choose appropriate screen names and to create strong passwords.
- Make it a rule with your kids that they can't arrange to meet up with someone they met online without your knowledge and supervision.
- Stress to your children that making any kind of a threat online—even if they think it's a joke—is a crime.
- Report any inappropriate contact between an adult and your child to law enforcement immediately. Notify the site they were using, too.” [2]
Sadly, reports of domestic violence are significantly increased this year. And, living in an environment where that is occurring is detrimental to the health of children. With that in mind, we have written here about the resources available to victims of domestic violence. Using them helps to keep kids safe.
These times are trying for many of us. It is even more important now to keep our kids safe. We hope that this information helps. Of course, we would welcome your thoughts about these ideas.
[1] https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/protecting-your-kids
[2] Id.