Anyone can become a victim. The Northern District of Alabama and the National Children’s Advocacy Center strive to safeguard all children. To help protect your children from online predators, we encourage parents to:

• Tell your children to avoid communicating with strangers online.
• Explain to your children that sometimes predators will offer them gifts in exchange for them taking and sending sexually explicit images or videos. Sometimes, the predators will make threats. Parents should explain to their children that these are strategies abusers use to get what they want, and if this happens, to not feel guilty and immediately tell a parent or other adult.
• To the extent possible, educate yourself about the internet tools your children use. For example, set up your child’s specific profile on cellphones, iPads, and computer devices to limit the websites and content your child can access, and have a weekly “usage” sheet sent to you for that profile. Make sure your children use privacy settings to restrict access to their online profiles.
• Check your children’s social media and gaming profiles and posts. Talk to your children about what is appropriate to say or share.
• Remind your child the world can see what they publicly post on the internet, people can share those posts, and that images can never be fully erased.