News | Topic: Online Safety

Increasing Number Of San Diego Teens Falling Victim To ‘Sextortion’ Scams

Kids and teens are being targeted by a dangerous scam online called sextortion, a crime that occurs when someone threatens to distribute private and sensitive material if one does not provide them with money. Read the article here.

How To Talk To Teens About Nudes And Online Safety

Teens may have sexted more during the pandemic, and the fallout can be intense. Read the article here.

Teens Are Looking For Love In Online Places

How to help teens have safe and healthy online relationships. Read the article here.

What I’ve Learned Rescuing My Daughter From Her Transgender Fantasy

One mom’s warning of how transgender ideology slowly crept into her daughter’s life. Read the article here.

Certain Teens May Be At Higher Risk For Online Threats

The researchers also found that two years after Internet usage was monitored on the laptops, the participants who had viewed more pornography were more likely to be engaging in risky sexual behaviors. Additionally, those who had spent more time on social media were more likely to experience cyberbullying two years later. Read the article here.

Parent Alert! The Dangers Of OnlyFans Plus 4 Ways To Defend Your Kids

Defend Young Minds has this to say about OnlyFans:

“The idea behind OnlyFans was to “develop a site where creators could monetize their content free of advertisers.”

The “creators” included photographers, YouTubers, models, actors, and others involved in the creative arts. Unfortunately, the site also immediately attracted sexually explicit content.”

Read the full article here.

‘Anorexia Coach’: Sexual Predators Online Are Targeting Teens Wanting To Lose Weight. Platforms Are Looking The Other Way

There’s no shortage of people online looking to exploit and manipulate the vulnerable among us. One such group is anorexia coaches, or “anacoaches”. Read the article here.

Parents’ Fears Over Sexting And Abuse Among Teenagers

A vivid picture of sexual assaults and harassment in teenagers’ lives has been laid bare in recent months but parents rarely speak about the emotional turmoil they face. Read the article here.

Dangers Of Discord: 6 Steps For Safeguarding Teens On The Popular Chat App

What exactly is Discord? And can my teen safely use it? Read the article from Protect Young Minds here.

Sending Nudes: Starting The Convo Early – 3 Tips For Smart Parents

Kids are growing up in a world where sending nudes is the norm. Read the article here.

7 Tactics A Child Predator Uses To Lure Kids: Red Flag Phrases Every Parent Needs To Know

Learning about the tactics and tricks child predators use will help parents be more aware. Read the article here.

When 6th Graders Can Access Rape Porn On Their Smartphones, School Becomes Toxic

No 11-year-old should have to deal with, or even know, about things like this. Read the article here.

UK Drops Age-Verification Plan For Pornography Websites

Concerns over enforcement and data being misused lead government to cancel rollout. Read the article here.

New Research Commissioned By The BBFC Into The Impact Of Pornography On Children Demonstrates Significant Support For Age-Verification

83% of parents agreed with the statement “there should be robust age-verification controls in place to stop children (under 18s) seeing commercial pornography online.” Read the report here.

Tinder Dating Among Teens: When Swipe-Right Culture Goes To High School

The massively popular dating app claims to block underage users. The only workaround? Lying. And everyone is doing it. Read the article here.

New Movie, “Eighth Grade” Highlights Social Media’s Effect On Children

A new film, “Eighth Grade,” tackles the experience of an adolescent girl finishing out middle school, and highlights the effects of social media on her life. Read the full article here.

 

Warning: The film has been given an R-rating.

We Have Some Bad News For You About Porn

Internet filtering tools, like parental controls, are largely unsuccessful in preventing young people from watching porn online, according to new research from the Oxford Internet Institute. Read the article here.

Police Warn Parents Of Social Media’s Role In Human Trafficking

Human trafficking doesn’t just happen in big cities, it happens everywhere and a big part, according to Michigan State Police, is because of social media. Read the article here.

Live Streaming Apps Put Young Teens At Risk For Sex Predators, Advocates Warn

The rise in popularity of livestreaming apps is putting young teens and pre-teens at growing risk of becoming victims of sex predators and distributors of child porn, advocates say. Read the article here.

I Was Sold On Backpage.com: The Story Of Jane Doe

Backpage has been shut down in a collaborative effort between the FBI and other government agencies. However, to give this victory meaning we need to understand how child sex trafficking impacts all of us. Read the article here.