Interests & Risks

• Screenshots of videos can be taken and the videos themselves can be recorded. Once saved by others, it can be easily misused to embarrass or harm children.
• Depending on the app, platform, or website, there may be limited privacy controls, so children don’t always know the people watching. They can be followed and viewed by adults.
• The perceived intimacy of livestreaming could lead children 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 someone is live, potentially leading to inappropriate questions and harassment.
• The “likes” serve to add validation and status which can influence children’s decisions about what to post.
• Many livestream apps and platforms have private messaging options, which are often turned on by default, meaning anyone can direct message children.
• If children 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 sites your child is on. Review the system’s privacy settings, parental controls (if applicable), and how to report inappropriate content and behaviour.
• Help your child 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 child to limit followers to people they know offline.
• Many times, children 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 child’s room before bedtime.

• Explain 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 children to embarrass or harm them. In some cases, screenshots of children 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 about at Cybertip.ca/sextortion.
• Be emotionally available and keep the lines of communication open. It is important to remind your child 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.

• Apps can be hidden on a device. Icons can be arranged discreetly, placed into folder on a user’s device, or hidden from the home screen so they are no longer visible at a quick glance.
• 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 the user’s location without asking each time.
• 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 child 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.
• Where possible, turn off location services to prevent some apps from tracking your child’s location and making it visible to their follower or friend list.
• Review the app guidelines and see if you can report inappropriate activity if needed. Assist your child 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, internet content and features available within the device. Check the App Store® and Google Play™ for parental control settings you can enable.
• Know your child's username, email address, profile name, and password for the apps they use. Ensure 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 limits on the amount of time your child spends online.

• Teach your child to check with you before downloading any apps. At this age, online activities should always be supervised by a parent or safe adult.
• Tell them that if they come across something online that makes them feel uncomfortable, they can tell you without fear of getting in trouble.
• Talk to your child about chat functions within apps and the public nature of the internet. Explain the importance of checking with you before chatting with people.

• Some apps that use a device’s camera may give users a sense of security if their pictures or videos are only temporarily shared (e.g. Snapchat and WhatsApp), but pictures and videos can be screenshotted and forwarded to others.
• Content shared through a device’s camera on livestreaming apps and services can be recorded, though children may be unaware that someone is recording.
• Unless your child knows 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 children are speaking with someone in real time.

• 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, “friends,” or “followers.”
• Monitor your child’s posting and exchanging of pictures and videos online.
• Model appropriate use of cameras, making sure not to record or send pictures without consent.

• Teach your child to check with you before video chatting with anyone or sharing any pictures/videos online. At this age, online activities should always be supervised by a parent or safe adult.
• Explain to your child if someone tries to get them to send a picture or to video chat, or if someone sends a picture to them, to block that person and come tell you or a safe adult about it.
• Let them know that you are there to protect and support them, so if something goes wrong or if they make a mistake, it is okay to come to you for help.

• Once a message is sent, control over that message is lost. Personal information (including pictures and videos) can be easily saved and/or shared with others.
• Children may accept follow requests from people they don’t know in person.
• Some anonymous messaging apps allow children to easily engage in conversations with strangers.
• Some platforms give users a sense of security that their information (including pictures and videos) is only temporarily shared, but these platforms may not be as secure as users believe they are.
• Shared information (including pictures and videos) can be screenshotted and forwarded to others.

• Review the chat or messaging platform’s terms of use to see what the legal age for usage is, and where to report inappropriate content/messages.
• Assist your child in creating their account for any chat or messaging platforms they want to use.
• Check to see that your child’s account is set up so that people they aren’t friends with can’t start a conversation with them.

• Teach your child to check with you before chatting or texting with anyone. At this age, online activities should always be supervised by a parent or safe adult.
• Explain to your child, if someone asks them to chat or text, they should come tell you or a safe adult about it right away.
• 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, or they can misuse information, photos, or videos shared with them.
• Tell your child that if they come across something or someone while chatting, messaging, or texting that makes them feel uncomfortable, they can tell you without fear of getting in trouble or losing online privileges.
• Explain if someone asks them something that seems “weird,” stop chatting with the person and share what happened with you or a safe adult.

• Many online games have a chat component where users can talk to anyone. Through the chat feature, children can easily be exposed to inappropriate conversations or redirected to inappropriate content on other sites.
• Children 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 seen by other users. People your children may not know will have access to their location.

• Know and explore the games your child wants to play online to determine if the game is age appropriate. Considerations may include:
  • Is the game moderated?
  • Does the game contain sexually explicit or violent material?
  • Is there an interactive (chat) component in the game? Is this an optional feature that can be turned off?
  • Are there other optional features that can be turned off for safety?
• Review the game guidelines. Can you report any inappropriate activity?
• Assist your child in creating their login and password. A parent or safe adult should always supervise the online activities of children this age.

• Teach them to check with you before playing new games or sharing any information online. At this age, online activities should always be supervised by a parent or safe adult.
• Teach your child if someone they don’t know sends them a link, don’t click on it.
• Tell your child that if they come across something or someone while playing an online game that makes them feel uncomfortable, they can tell you without fear of getting in trouble.
• Explain if someone in a game wants them to move to video-chatting sites or other chat platforms, they need to come to you for permission to be safe.

Despite many safety features search engines may provide, children can still come across content that is inappropriate for their developmental stage when searching online.

• Use filtering options available on many search engines to help moderate the search results that appear. While not 100% effective, it helps to avoid violent and adult content.
• Assist your youth in searching for topics they are interested in. Supervise the online activities of children this age.
• Set limits on the amount of time your child spends online.

• Explain the public nature of the internet. Discuss the inappropriate nature of some content available online and reinforce that not everything online is credible or accurate.
• Tell your child that if they come across something while online that makes them feel uncomfortable, they can tell you without fear of getting in trouble.

• Many video-sharing platforms do not provide the option to set parental controls or restrict what content children can view.
• Children can engage in behaviour that may be recorded and misused.

• Watch any videos your child wants to watch beforehand to ensure the videos are age appropriate.
• Assist your child in searching for videos of topics they are interested in. A parent or safe adult should always supervise the online activities of children this age.
• Enforce limits on the amount of time your child spends watching videos.
• Model how you make careful decisions about what you record and share online.

• Teach your child to check with you first before searching for videos on video-sharing platforms.
• Tell your child that if they come across something while watching videos online that makes them feel uncomfortable, they can tell you without fear of getting in trouble.
• Set and discuss limits on what your child records and shares online, weighing out the reasons for sharing publicly and whether it could be misused to embarrass or cause distress.