Interests & Risks

• Screenshots of videos can be captured and the videos themselves can be recorded. Once saved by others, it can be easily misused to embarrass or harm tweens.
• Depending on the app, platform, or website there may be limited privacy controls, so tweens don’t always know the people who are watching. Adults they don’t know can follow and watch them.
• The perceived intimacy of livestreaming could lead tweens to share too much personal information. Even if they don’t give out their real name, they could be giving away their identity or location in other ways.
• People can comment while tweens are live, leading to inappropriate questions and harassment.
• The “likes” serve to add validation and status which can influence tweens’ decisions about what to say or do.
• Many livestreaming apps and platforms have private messaging options, which are often on by default, meaning anyone can direct message tweens.
• If tweens are watching livestreams: Because it’s live, content can’t always be moderated, meaning anything can happen – from explicit language, to sexual content, to violence.

• Become familiar with the apps, platforms, and websites your tween is streaming on and watching. Review the system’s privacy settings, parental controls (if applicable), and how to report inappropriate content and behaviour.
• Help tweens set up privacy settings. With a private account, users can approve or deny followers, restrict who can view their content, and limit incoming messages to followers only. Remind your tween to limit followers to people they know offline.
• Many times, tweens livestream at night in their bedrooms when parents are asleep or unaware. It’s a good idea to turn off the Wi-Fi and consider removing devices from your tween’s room before bedtime.

• Explain to youths the consequences of livestreaming. It’s already hard to erase your digital footprint as it is and even harder to take back something when you are streaming it live for everyone to see.
• Discuss that screenshots and videos from livestreams can be used against youths to embarrass or harm them. In some cases, youths’ screenshots can be used against them to get them to do things they don’t want to. This is called sextortion, which you can learn more at cybertip.ca/sextortion.
• Be emotionally available and keep the lines of communication open. It is important to remind your youth they can always come to you for help without fear of getting into trouble and reinforce to them it’s never too late to ask for help.

• Some apps give users a sense of security that their information, images, or videos are only being shared temporarily. However, there are ways for other users to save shared information.
• Many apps use location services when enabled on the device to identify the location of the user of the app through GPS technology. Some apps encourage the user to “check in” or share their location, while others may share location without asking for user input each time. Other users may be able to track your tween’s location.
• Apps can be hidden on a device. Icons can be arranged discreetly or placed into a folder on a user’s device so they are no longer visible at a quick glance.
• More specific risks related to gaming, chat, messaging, and social media apps can be found under the headings for these types of services below.

• Become familiar with apps your tween is interested in downloading. Understand their purpose, how information is shared, what information is needed to sign up for an account and the app’s terms of agreement. Some apps require users to be 13 years old to sign up for an account.
• Review the app guidelines and see if you can report inappropriate activity if needed. Assist your tween in creating their login details and profile. A parent or safe adult should always supervise the online activities of children this age.
• Become familiar with parental controls on phones and tablets. Some devices allow parents to limit access to specific apps, social media sites, internet content, and features available within the device. Check the App Store or Google Play for parental control settings you can enable.
• Know your tween's username, profile name, and password, as well as the email address used, for the apps they use. Ensure that this login information doesn’t provide identifying information about your child.
• Help your child create a strong password with multiple characters, symbols, and numbers, and remind them not to share with others.

• Set the expectation you will monitor your child’s online activities, and work together to establish guidelines around texting, social media, and gaming (who your child can do these things with and on what apps).
• Reinforce the idea that not everyone is who they say they are online. People can pretend to be older or younger than they actually are.
• Remind your tween it is easy to lose control over what happens to texts, photos, and videos sent through apps, and they should be careful about what they choose to share and consider if it could be misused.

• Some apps/services that use a device’s camera may give users a sense of security that their pictures and/or videos are only temporarily shared, but these apps/services may not be as secure as users believe they are. Shared pictures and videos can be saved and forwarded to others.
• Content shared through a device’s camera on livestreaming services can still be recorded, though tweens may be unaware that someone is recording.
• Unless tweens know the other person, there is no way of verifying who is on the other end. Pre-recorded content can be streamed in place of live content, making it seem like they are speaking with someone “live.”

• Enable controls and privacy settings on apps/services that limit who can see posted photos or videos. Many times, default settings in apps are on “public.” Switching a profile to “private” makes posts only available to an approved list of people.
• Monitor your tweens’ use of cameras on their devices, as well as the posting and exchanging of pictures and videos online.

• Explain to your tween once a picture is sent, whether through an app or message, they lose control of what is done with it. Images and videos can be easily misused (e.g., the recipient may show it to friends, send or post it online) or used to manipulate the other person to engage in an unwanted activity. For steps on how to report sexual photos or videos, visit NeedHelpNow.ca.
• Teach your child that if someone has a sexual/intimate picture/video of them that was created in private circumstances, and that person knowingly posts it online or shares it with someone else knowing that your tween would not consent to that (or being reckless about whether your youth would consent to it), the person could be charged.
• Explain if someone tries to get your tween to send a picture or to video chat and do things that are inappropriate or seem “weird,” they should stop talking to the person and tell a safe adult about it.
• Have regular conversations about who your tween is video chatting with online.
• Reassure your child if they ever feel like they are “in over their head” in a situation, or they have made mistakes they can always come to you for help, and you will work through the situation together.

• Tweens may engage in private conversations or share private information or photos, unaware of the lasting consequences.
• Tweens may accept follower requests from people they don’t know in person.
• Anonymous messaging apps allow youths to engage in conversations with strangers easily.
• The messaging history in some apps may not be saved. Some chat and messaging apps and services may log the conversations but allow them to be easily deleted.

• Review the app or service’s terms of use to see what the legal age for usage, as most apps and services require users to be at least 13 years old.
• Check to see that your tweens chat or messaging accounts are set up so that no one can begin speaking to them without their permission and learn how to report inappropriate content/messages.
• Know your tween’s passwords, usernames, and the friends they’re communicating with online.
• Monitor who your child is contacting and the apps or services they are using to text and message with others.
• Ensure your tween always uses a username and profile image that doesn't reflect their age, location or interests.
• Ensure direct messages can only be received from people your tween has accepted as a friend or follower.

• Reinforce the idea not everyone is who they say they are online. People can pretend to be older or younger than they actually are or they can misuse information, photos, or videos shared with them.
• Discuss the importance of not responding to harassing, harmful, or unsolicited messages and to save these types of messages. Saving these messages will be helpful during the reporting process. To learn more about reporting on apps or services, visit NeedHelpNow.ca.
• Explain to your child they should trust their instincts and block anyone who asks questions online that make them feel uncomfortable. Add that they can tell you or a safe adult about the conversation without fear of getting into trouble.
• Teach your tween how to get out of unwanted conversations. Some direct ways of getting out of uncomfortable situations include refusing to do something by saying, “I don’t want to” or discontinuing contact by not responding to messages and deleting or blocking the person as a contact. Indirect ways of ending a conversation include making excuses such as, “I have to go out with my family” or blaming parents, “My mom checks my phone randomly and would ground me.”

• When creating a profile, some platforms require certain fields to be completed. In most cases, there are no restrictions on what can be added to a profile, including personal information and photos and videos.
• A tween may accept friend or follower requests from people they have not met in person.
• Adults looking to victimize youths can quickly turn conversations sexual.
• Once a message is sent or a post is made, control over it is lost. Personal information, pictures and videos can be easily saved and shared with others.
• Platforms may push inappropriate content, which leads to children easily coming across harmful, violent or pornographic content.

• Become familiar with social media platforms your tween is using. Understand their purpose, how information is shared, and what information is needed to sign up. Many social media platforms require users to be at least 13 years old.
• If you agree to allow your tween to use a social media app, assist in the profile creation and only fill out what’s necessary, leaving out identifying information.
• Follow your child or add them as a friend on the social media app as a condition of being able to use the service.
• Enable privacy settings on social platforms to limit who can see posts, photos, or videos. Many times, default settings in apps are on “public.” Switching a profile to “private” makes posts only available to an approved list of “friends” or “followers.”
• Know your tween’s passwords, profile names, and the friends they’re communicating with online.
• Help your child create a strong password with multiple characters, symbols, and numbers, and remind them not to share it with others.
• Some platforms allow users to hide or limit who can see their friend list. Where possible, enable this setting on your child’s account.
• Tell your tween not to link their other social media accounts in their bios and not to add identifying information as anyone can see their bio.
• Review where and how to report inappropriate content found on the site. Visit NeedHelpNow.ca for steps on reporting content.

• Set the expectation that you will monitor your tween's online activities and work together to establish guidelines around social media (who they can do these things with and on what apps).
• Remind your tween not to post anything they don’t want to be permanently online and that it’s easy to lose control over what happens to texts, photos, and videos on social media.
• Remind your child to only follow or friend people they know in real life, and to check with a safe adult when they’re sent a request from someone they don’t know.
• Keep the lines of communication open. It is important to remind them that they can always come to you for help without fear of getting into trouble and reinforce it’s never too late to ask for help.

• Many online games have a chat component where users can talk to people they do not know in person. Tweens can easily be exposed to inappropriate conversations and, in many cases, records of these chats are not saved.
• Tweens can be asked to move to a different platform with fewer safety restrictions to message or video chat.
• Some gaming apps use the device’s GPS during gameplay, allowing the location of the user to be identified by other users.

• Review the games your tween wants to play and see whether games have chat functions, if they contain sexually explicit or violent material, and if there’s an option to report inappropriate material and behaviour.
• Where possible, turn off location services to prevent some apps from tracking your tween’s location and making it visible to their follower or friend list.
• For consoles, computer, and mobile games, set up parental controls and create passwords for the parental control features. You can control online access by using the block and/or restrict features available on most video game consoles.
• Seek games that offer the ability to block or restrict individuals who can play with your tween.
• Know your tween’s passwords, usernames, and the friends they are playing and chatting with online.

• Explain to your child that they should never meet in person with someone they’ve met in a game without a parent or safe adult present.
• Teach your tween to ask you before they download a new game or accept a friend or game request.
• Discuss how to get out of uncomfortable situations in games if someone starts talking to them inappropriately, such as stop talking or playing with the person and block or report the person in the game.
• Ensure your tween understands they can talk to you about anything they encounter online that makes them feel uncomfortable without fear of losing internet or gaming privileges.

• Many video-sharing sites do not provide the option of restricting who may view certain video clips.
• Youths can inadvertently give out personal information. Backgrounds stating their school’s name or mentioning landmarks could allow someone to track where your youth lives.
• Comment sections open users to harassing and/or inappropriate responses to uploaded videos.
• Platforms may push inappropriate content, which leads to children easily coming across harmful, violent or pornographic content.

• Be aware of who’s connecting with your tween on the platform and what information they are sharing in their videos.
• Check out your tween’s favourite videos and the channels they subscribe to. These can give you clues about what they’re watching on the platform.
• Review where and how to report inappropriate content found on the site. Visit NeedHelpNow.ca for steps on reporting content.
• Learn about the comments section to see if comments can be turned off.

• Discuss what information your youth should and should not be revealing in their videos.
• Encourage your youth to protect their privacy by setting personal videos to “private” or “unlisted” when possible.
• Explain if they are ever threatened to make or share videos, they should stop talking to the person and let you know right away. Do not ever comply with such requests. Learn more about sextortion at cybertip.ca/sextortion.

*Teen Safety, Policies, safety, and reporting. Available on Google.