Back-to-School 2025: Tools to Help Keep Children Safe Online
*Information and content provided by The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children*
As children head back to school, online safety matters more than ever. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is on the frontlines, providing families, educators, and professionals with the tools they need to protect children in an increasingly digital world.
As students settle into new routines, they’re also spending more time on devices; for homework, socializing, gaming, and more. This increased screen time brings new and evolving risks, including some threats that didn’t even exist a few years ago.
About NetSmartz
NetSmartz is NCMEC’s online safety education program, offering age-appropriate videos and activities to help children stay safer online. The goal is to build awareness of potential risks and empower children to make safer choices both on- and offline.
The latest episode, “That’s Not Me!”, tackles the misuse of generative AI. In this story, Clicky and Nettie discover someone using AI tools to create fake images of people. With the help of their friend Gig, they uncover who’s behind the images and stop it from happening again.
The NetSmartz crew reminds children that if something happens, it’s never their fault and they should always speak up and report it to NCMEC’s CyberTipline.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWas95dE3Xk
Generative Artificial Intelligence
Generative artificial intelligence (GAI) is a powerful tool that can create new images, videos, audio, and text from user prompts. While it has many positive uses, it also brings serious risks to child safety. Offenders are misusing GAI to create altered, sexually exploitative images of children; including “nudify” apps that generate explicit content of real children.
NCMEC has received CyberTipline reports of GAI being used in cases of online enticement, sextortion, and even students creating explicit images of their peers. This exploitative content causes real harm and must be reported to law enforcement and NCMEC’s CyberTipline.
Learn more: https://www.ncmec.org/GAI
Sextortion
Sextortion is a type of blackmail used by offenders to obtain additional sexual content, coerce a child into sexual activity, or demand money. While some victims are targeted after sharing images with someone, they thought they knew or trusted, NCMEC has found that many children are contacted by offenders online who use deception, coercion, or manipulation to obtain an explicit image and then use it as leverage.
NCMEC’s CyberTipline has seen a dramatic increase in sextortion reports, especially involving financial demands. Offenders often create fake accounts or pose as peers to gain trust before exploiting children. To learn more about sextortion, visit NCMEC’s Sextortion page.
“Take It Down” is a free service that helps remove nude, partially nude, or sexually explicit images and videos taken before you were 18. It’s one step you can take to regain control if this kind of content has been shared online. https://takeitdown.ncmec.org/
NO ESCAPE ROOM is an interactive film designed to help teens understand the real-life dangers of sextortion. It puts viewers in the shoes of a teen being targeted, showing just how quickly things can spiral and how hard it can be to ask for help.
This isn’t just a film; it’s a powerful educational tool to spark conversations and protect kids from online exploitation.
Watch now: https://noescaperoom.org/
Social Media
Social media is a great way for us to connect and share what’s going on in our lives, but it can also be used for harm, and young people are especially vulnerable. Some people can pretend to be who they’re not.
Tell children to always keep their guard up with people they don’t know, especially if they try to rush you into doing something you’re not comfortable with, like sending personal information or having sexual conversations or trading pictures.
If someone is making them uncomfortable, they don’t have to deal with it. They can block them. They can also report any activity that is making them uncomfortable: https://cybertipline.org/
Social Media safety tips here: https://www.ncmec.org/netsmartz/topics/socialmedia
Smart phones/devices – starting the conversation: https://www.ncmec.org/netsmartz/topics/smartphones
Stay informed and up to date on the latest trends. Sign up for the NetSmartz newsletter and learn how you can help kids stay safer online: https://go.missingkids.org/l/808593/2020-02-24/7gz7