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Important topics and resources related to online safety:
This short video provides some quick tips for keeping personal information safe online.
This video from Common Sense Media addresses online friendships-- their benefits and risks.
This video from Internet Matters provides parents information they need to know about how to keep their children from accessing inappropriate content online.
Anonymous & Decoy Apps
Anonymous & Decoy Apps
Using decoy apps to hide content on devices or anonymous apps to post things you wouldn’t share in real life can expose children to variety of online issues if misused. Learn more about what these are and get practical tips to keep young people safe.
(Source: internetmatters.org)
Decoy Apps
Decoy Apps
Some apps have been created with the specific purpose of allowing the user to hide content within them. These decoy apps can protect personal information from strangers but also allow people to hide content they don’t want anyone else to see.
In order to throw off the unknowing eye, decoy app icons often look like a regular camera icon, music app, photo app or a calculator. These apps are great for securing sensitive information from strangers, but they also make it difficult for parents to monitor what information children are accessing and holding on their devices.
Examples of Popular Decoy Apps:
Secret Calculator
Photo Album
Stashword
KeepSafe
Anonymous Apps
Anonymous apps allow users to share and interact with each other without revealing who they are. Unlike social media sites, many of these apps encourage users to stay anonymous and chat to each other or post questions and answers on a range of topics.
In recent years, there has been a growth in honesty or feedback apps that allow users to post images or ‘tell-all’ posts to get ‘honest’ feedback from strangers which at times can lead to bullying.
Examples of Popular Decoy Apps:
**Click on the icon to access a parent guide to the app**
Tellonym
Yolo
SayAt.Me
Omegle
ASKfm
Sarahah
Psst! Anonymous
Whisper
More App Specific Guides for Parents:
A Spotlight on Online Grooming:
A Spotlight on Online Grooming:
What Parents Need to Know
What Parents Need to Know
Grooming is when someone seeks to build an emotional connection with a child to gain their trust for sexual purposes. It happens both online and face to face. According to a report from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), there have been a record number of reports of online child sexual abuse since the start of the pandemic. As many people have moved online to work and learn from home, experts are warning that predators are taking advantage of the situation to exploit children and to share and distribute child sexual abuse material online. Of the increased reports, IWF have found a 77% increase in "self-generated" child sexual abuse content. This means that children are sharing photos and videos of themselves that is then distributed online. In many cases, children are groomed, deceived, or extorted into sharing these images and videos.
The good news is that parents can help.
Supervise or monitor your child's online activities.
Talk to your child about online safety.
Learn the signs that your child may be engaging in unsafe behavior online.
Manage privacy settings and parental controls on your child's device(s).
Learn more and access resources below:
What Parents Need to Know: The Guide
Stop It Now: Reporting Child Sexual Abuse
Montana DPHHS: Child & Family Services
For more information on internet safety. Check out Common Sense Media, Internet Matters,
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