Keeping kids safe online comes down to three risks: adults who target children for sexual exploitation, content a child isn’t ready for, and use that crowds out sleep, school, and family life. None of them calls for banning the internet. Each one gets smaller when you know how your child’s apps work and your child knows they can come to you.
Start with the platform your child uses most, or the danger that worries you most. The guides below cover both.
Fast Facts About Kids’ Online Safety
- NCMEC’s CyberTipline received 1.4 million reports of online enticement of children in 2025, including more than 80,000 reports about sextortion.[1]
- NCMEC says enticement happens on every type of platform, including online games, social media, and messaging apps.[1]
- Offenders often try to move a conversation from one app to another, which NCMEC lists as a red flag.[2]
- In a fall 2025 Pew Research Center survey, 36% of U.S. teens said they use at least one of five major platforms almost constantly.[5]
If your child is in danger right now
- Call 911 if there is an immediate threat.
- Report exploitation to the NCMEC CyberTipline: report.cybertip.org or 1-800-843-5678.
- If sexual images of your child are being shared or threatened, Take It Down can help remove them.
- If your child is thinking about suicide, call or text 988.
Choose Your Child’s Platform
Every app has its own settings, age rules, and weak spots. Pick the one your child uses.
| Platform | Minimum age | What the guide covers |
|---|---|---|
| Roblox safety guide | Accounts for ages 5 and up | Age checks, chat limits, parental controls, spending, and predators |
| Is Discord safe for kids? | 13 | Family Center, teen default settings, and how contact moves from games to Discord |
| Is Snapchat safe for kids? | 13 | Find Friends, Snap Map, disappearing messages, streaks, sextortion, and drug sales |
| TikTok addiction | Varies | Why the feed is hard to put down and how families set limits |
Roblox sorts younger players into Roblox Kids accounts for ages 5 to 8 and Roblox Select accounts for ages 9 to 15, and it requires an age check before anyone can chat.[7] Discord’s terms require users to be at least 13.[10] Snapchat also requires users to be at least 13 and says it deletes accounts it learns belong to younger children.[9]
Choose the Danger You’re Worried About
Some worries don’t belong to one app. These guides explain what the danger looks like and what to do.
- Online grooming: how adults build trust with a child, the warning signs, and how to respond.
- Sextortion: what it is and what to do if someone threatens to share images of your child.
- Roblox predators: how contact can start in games and move to other apps.
What Are the Main Risks for Kids Online?
Grooming, Exploitation, and Sextortion
Online enticement means an adult communicating with someone they believe is a child, intending to commit a sexual offense or abduction. NCMEC counts sextortion inside this category.[1]
Reports have climbed fast. Online enticement reports to NCMEC rose 158% from 2024 to 2025, partly because a 2024 law, the REPORT Act, now requires online companies to report it.[1]
Sextortion is blackmail. Someone threatens to share a sexual image of a child unless the child sends more images, more sexual content, or money.[2] NCMEC says teenage boys have been the most common targets in recent financial sextortion cases.[2] It received an average of 137 financial sextortion reports a day in 2025.[1]
The federal Financial Crimes Enforcement Network says boys ages 14 to 17 are especially vulnerable. It also warns that offenders now use AI to create fake explicit images from ordinary photos.[3]
These cases can be life-threatening. NCMEC says it knows of at least three dozen U.S. teenage boys who died by suicide after being targeted.[1] That makes the message you give your child ahead of time matter: nothing they sent or did will make you stop helping them, and there is always a way through.
Contact That Moves From One App to Another
NCMEC lists deliberately moving a conversation from one platform to another as a common tactic in sextortion.[2]
Lawsuits describe the same pattern. In a December 2025 order, a federal panel summarized families’ allegations that predators met children on Roblox and then moved them to Discord, Snapchat, Instagram, texting, or video calls. Those are allegations, and the order made no findings about them.[4]
So a safe setup on one app isn’t enough on its own. Ask your child which apps their online friends use, too.
Harmful Content
Each platform filters content by age in its own way. Roblox limits younger accounts to games with lower maturity ratings.[7] Snapchat says it keeps some public content it considers inappropriate from being recommended to teen accounts.[9] Discord announced in February 2026 that sensitive images would stay blurred unless a user is confirmed as an adult.[8]
Compulsive Use
About one in five teens told Pew they are on TikTok almost constantly, and the same share said so about YouTube.[5]
Heavy use on its own is not a diagnosis. The World Health Organization defines gaming disorder as impaired control, gaming taking priority over other activities, and continuing despite harm, usually for at least 12 months.[6]
If you’re unsure where your child falls, a short screening can help you think it through:
For day-to-day habits, see healthy phone habits for teenagers. For a wider look at how apps shape mood, sleep, and self-image, visit how social media affects teens.
What Can Parents Do This Week?
- Link your account. Roblox, Discord, and Snapchat all offer parent tools that let you see who your child is connected to.[7][11][9] Discord’s and Snapchat’s tools do not show the content of private messages.[11][9]
- Check the birthday on each account. Age settings only protect a child whose account has the right age.
- Talk about the move to another app. Tell your child that a new online friend asking to switch apps is a reason to pause and tell you.
- Agree on a no-punishment rule. Kids hide trouble when they fear losing their phone. Promise that telling you won’t cost them their devices.
- Add a monitoring tool if it fits your family. Compare options in the parental control software reviews, including Bark and Qustodio.
When Online Harm Becomes a Legal Question
Families have filed lawsuits against several platforms over exploitation and compulsive use. The tech harm lawsuit tracker explains where each case stands, including the Roblox lawsuit. A lawsuit is one option for some families. Your child’s safety and care come first.
If your child is struggling after something that happened online, a counselor who understands technology can help. You can find a therapist near you.
Sources
- National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. (2026). CyberTipline Data.
- National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. (n.d.). Sextortion.
- Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. (2025, September 8). FinCEN Issues Notice on Financially Motivated Sextortion.
- United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. (2025, December 12). Transfer Order, In re Roblox Corporation Child Sexual Exploitation and Assault Litigation, MDL No. 3166.
- Pew Research Center. (2025, December 9). Teens, Social Media and AI Chatbots 2025.
- World Health Organization. (n.d.). Gaming disorder: Frequently asked questions.
- Roblox. (2026, June 16). Age-Based Roblox Kids and Select Accounts Now Globally Available.
- Discord. (2026, February 9; updated February 24). Discord Launches Teen Default Experience Globally.
- Snap Inc. (n.d.). Safeguards for Teens.
- Discord. (n.d.). Terms of Service.
- Discord. (n.d.). Discord Family Center.