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Children use WhatsApp, TikTok, Instagram, online games, and other platforms every day. They use them to talk to friends, complete schoolwork, watch videos, and play games.

Most of these activities are harmless. However, the internet also makes it easier for dangerous people to contact children without their families knowing.

An online predator may pretend to be another child or teenager. They may offer airtime, data, gifts, or gaming credits. They might also give the child lots of attention or act as though they understand problems that nobody else does. This process of slowly gaining a child’s trust is called grooming.

Here are seven practical ways to help keep your child safe.

1. Explain How Grooming Happens

Children need to know that people online are not always who they claim to be. A profile photograph, a school name, or a list of mutual friends does not prove someone’s identity.

Warn your child about anyone who asks personal questions, offers gifts, requests photographs, or tells them to keep the friendship secret.

Keep these conversations calm. If children believe they will be blamed, punished, or immediately lose their phones, they may be too frightened to ask for help.

2. Protect Personal Information

A photo can reveal more than expected. A school uniform, sports badge, house number, street sign, or taxi stop may show where a child lives, studies, or spends time.

Children should not share their:

• Home address.
• School name.
• Phone number.
• Daily routine.
• Live location.
• Travel plans.

Switch off location tagging when it is not needed. Check who can see your child’s posts, who can contact them directly, or who can add them to WhatsApp groups.

3. Stay Involved in Their Online World

Ask your child which games, apps, and social media platforms they enjoy. Find out who they chat to, who they follow, and which WhatsApp groups they have joined.

With younger children, keep phones, tablets, and computers in a shared area of the home. Approve apps before they are downloaded, and go through the privacy settings together.

The goal is not to monitor every message in secret. It is to stay involved and build trust, so your child feels able to tell you if a conversation, request, or person makes them feel uncomfortable.

4. Discuss the Warning Signs

A predator may try to move a conversation from a public game or social media platform to private or disappearing messages. They may ask the child to switch on their camera or pressure them to reply straight away.

Other warning signs include:

• Offering money, airtime, data, gifts, or gaming credits.
• Asking the child to keep the relationship secret.
• Making sexual comments.
• Requesting private photographs or videos.
• Threatening to share an image or conversation.
• Becoming angry when the child refuses.
• Suggesting that they meet without a trusted adult present.

5. Set Clear Rules About Images

Children should never send intimate photographs or videos, even to someone they love or trust. Once sent, an image can be copied, changed, or shared without their permission.

If your child has already sent an image, stay calm and listen. Reassure them that grooming, abuse, and blackmail are never their fault.

Keep a record of usernames, dates, profile links, messages, and written threats. However, do not download, copy, or forward sexual images involving a child. Report the account to the platform and contact the police. Do not share details in community WhatsApp groups, as this could identify the child or expose them further.

6. Never Allow a Secret Meeting

Children should never meet someone they first spoke to online without a parent or trusted adult present. If there is a genuine reason to meet, the adult should first confirm the person’s identity, go with the child, and arrange the meeting in a busy public place.

Children should never accept a lift, gift, or invitation to a private home from an online contact. They must tell a trusted adult immediately if the person appears near their home, school, taxi stop, or sports practice.

7. Have an Emergency Plan

Make sure your child knows who to contact and where to go if they feel unsafe. Older children should also know how to request urgent assistance.

Download and register on the free iER app before an emergency happens. When mobile data and location services are enabled, an alert is sent with the user’s GPS position to iER’s 24/7 control centre. The team can assess the situation and connect the user with an appropriate service from its nationwide emergency-response network.

Families can also contact the iER response centre on 0861 10 60 80.

If a suspected predator threatens to visit, attempts to collect the child, or places them in immediate danger, move the child to a safe location and request urgent assistance. Suspected grooming, sexual abuse, exploitation, or abduction should also be reported to the police.

Children and concerned adults can contact Childline free from any network by dialling 116, 24 hours a day.

Conclusion

Keeping children safe online takes more than simply checking a phone once. Talk regularly about grooming, personal information, photographs, and secret meetings. Most importantly, make sure your child knows they can come to you without being blamed.

The free iER app offers another layer to your family’s safety plan by providing access to GPS-enabled alerts and a 24/7 emergency control centre when urgent help is needed.