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The key to protecting your children online, and more importantly, teaching them how to protect themselves online, is to be aware of the environment they are in when they instant message, chat, text, use social networks, create video, blog and learn online. We provide the following information in hopes that it will help you open up a dialog with your children regarding both the potential benefits and potential dangers that are a reality of online activity. In this section we provide materials regarding our purview, online child exploitation. We also recommend you discuss cyberbullying, the permanency of what is posted online and how it can impact your child today, tomorrow and in the future. For more information on those topics please see Internet Safety and visit Our Partners.

Online Child Exploitation

Definition: Technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation including creation, distribution and possession of child pornography, as well as attempts by individuals to lure and travel to meet children for sexual encounters. This also includes the use of technology to entice minors into sexually explicit chat or the exchange of nude or semi-nude photos and video, and providing minors with pornographic material.

Online child sexual exploitation is not only a mouthful to say, but it can be a difficult topic to discuss with children, tweens and teens. For some the first step might be familiarizing themselves with technology terminology and having an honest discussion about the risks that come with today's technology. To help you do that we have provided a glossary of terms in our Internet 101 section.

Others might be ready to visit out Internet Safety Partners section and search for videos, games and public service announcements to further facilitate conversation.

Coming Soon: View Our Technology Safety Presentation Online

Links of Interest:

Common Sense Media: Six Ways to Be a Media-Savvy Parent in 2012
Parent's Guide to Kids and Cell Phones
INOBTR: 10 Signs Your Child Is Being Bullied

To provide a tip,
call 1-800-THE LOST
or visit the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children.