Online Safety — Keeping Kids Safe

Practical guidance for parents keeping up with their kids' digital lives — without needing to become an expert in every app.

What it is

Online safety covers everything from screen time and age-appropriate content to cyberbullying, online predators, and the mental health effects of social media use — a moving target that changes as fast as the apps themselves.

Good to know

Outright bans tend to push kids toward hiding their online activity rather than reducing risk — ongoing, judgment-free conversation about what they're seeing and experiencing tends to work better than monitoring software alone.

What helps

Keeping shared devices in common areas, knowing the basic privacy settings of the platforms your kids actually use, and having an established “come to me if anything feels wrong, no matter what” agreement all reduce risk meaningfully. Schools and Kids Help Phone are both equipped to help if something's already gone wrong online.

When to seek help

If a child discloses something that happened online — contact from a stranger, exposure to harmful content, harassment — take it seriously and calmly, and involve the school or, if a safety threat is involved, the police.

Services that can help

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