Keeping Youth Safe and Resilient Online
While the internet can be a wonderful place, it can also be risky for youth’s safety and well-being. In this section, you’ll learn the essentials of digital safety for youth, how to protect your child from online risks, and how to promote well-being in a digital world.
Click on the images below to download the complete sheet in PDF format.
Fact Sheets
Youth’s Digital Safety: What Parents Need to Know
Use this guide to learn the essentials of digital safety for youth. It covers core concepts, how your child interacts online, and how to identify common risks and their warning signs.
What is digital safety?
- As your child grows, their online lives become more complex and independent.
- Digital safety for children involves practices and tools that protect them from online risks, empowering them to navigate the internet responsibly.
Why is it important today?
- Digital safety is crucial now due to children’s widespread online presence and increased exposure to evolving threats like cyberbullying and online predators.
- It's essential to foster their long-term well-being, responsible digital citizenship, and to equip them with vital skills for a safe online experience.
Understand the digital landscape for your child!
Research shows that parents who have strong digital knowledge and skills tend to be more involved in guiding their children through the online world.
Youth’s Online Benefits
ACADEMIC SUPPORT
The Internet aids school research, homework, and offers engaging online learning formats like educational games and videos.
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Computers and online activities improve school readiness and cognitive skills such as problem- solving and digital literacy.
SAFE SOCIAL SPACE
Internet provides a low-pressure way for youth, especially those with anxious tendencies, to practice social skills, boosting confidence.
PROSOCIAL WELL-BEING
Online interactions foster a sense of belonging and can improve well-being.
IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
The internet lets youth explore who they are, developing a positive self-image.
EMOTIONAL SUPPORT
The internet offers a means for youth to seek emotional help and important information.
Understand the digital landscape for your child!
Youth’s Online Interactions
How Youth Are Using the Internet: Youth are more active online than ever, using devices like smartphones and computers for education, entertainment, research, and social networking.
The Tech Behind Their Digital Lives:
It’s common for parents to be unaware of certain technologies and platforms their child are using. Here are some examples:
Hidden App Features
Photos, videos, or messages that are designed to disappear after a short period (e.g., a few seconds after viewing for Snapchat Snaps).
Bypassing Filters
Tools like VPNs that help youth get around internet blocks at school or home.
Specific Gaming
Platforms like Discord for talking to other players, or apply special game changes called mods to customize their gaming experience.
Niche Online Groups
There are some websites or forums about very specific hobbies or interests (e.g., Subreddits on Reddit).
Understand the threats your child might encounter online!
This section breaks down online risks to your child into 5 categories: Content, Contact, Conduct, Contract, and Cross-Cutting Risks.
CONTENT RISKS
Your child may accidentally or intentionally encounter or create problematic online content, like explicit violence, hate speech, or pornography, with AI deepfakes and AI-assisted image-based abuse posing a serious new risk for teens.
CONTACT RISKS
Your child can encounter or be targeted by harmful online and offline interactions, including harassment, grooming, sextortion, child sexual abuse material, predatory behaviors like catfishing, and potential issues with AI companions.
CONDUCT RISKS
Your child may witness, participate in, or become victims of harmful online behavior like cyberbullying, or be exposed to dangerous user communities like those promoting self-harm, or risky online challenges and trends like the choking or Benadryl challenge. (Click here to learn more about cyberbullying.)
CONTRACT RISKS
Your child can be exploited by harmful agreements or commercial interests, including age-inappropriate marketing, online gambling, malware, scams, and insecure digital services leading to identity theft, fraud, and in severe cases, human trafficking.
CROSS-CUTTING RISKS
Your child can be exposed to dangers that span all four categories, affecting their privacy and their physical and mental health. This can cause inequalities or discrimination, and includes common examples like addiction and privacy risks from online oversharing.
Watch out for these early alerts !
Learning to spot the following general warning signs early can make a huge difference in keeping your child safe from online risks. (Click here for tips to help your child build safe and healthy online habits.)
- Behavioral and Emotional Shifts
- Increased secrecy about online activities.
- Agitation or withdrawal when not online.
- New, secret online "friendships" or defensiveness about internet use.
- Unexplained anxiety, sadness, or loss of interest in usual activities.
- Physical Well-being
- Constant tiredness or trouble sleeping.
- Unexplained headaches, stomach aches, or muscle tension.
- Bruises, cuts, or injuries without a clear reason.
- Neglecting personal hygiene or significant shifts in eating habits.
- Academic and Social Impacts
- Sudden drop in school grades or missed assignments.
- Shifts in friend groups or increased arguments with family.
- Unexplained requests for money.
- Using new, out-of-character words or ideas.
- Device and Online Activity Clues
- Finding new, hidden apps on their
devices. - Receiving many unknown or suspicious messages/calls.
- Ignoring privacy settings or discovering disturbing content.
- Finding new, hidden apps on their
The impact of online activity on children’s emotional well-being
Social media and internet use has become widespread. The average screen time of children aged 6-14 was around 3 hours per day. Use this guide to explore how online activity can 5 affect your child.
Pros and Cons of online activity
PROS
Adolescents use the internet to maintain existing friendships, leading to increased contact with close friends, which has been linked with overall well-being.
Social media has given children and adolescents a place to show their creative side and interact with others with similar interests!
CONS
A study finds that among 6 to 17 year olds, daily screen time of 4 hours or more was associated with higher risks of anxiety, depression, behaviour or conduct problems, and ADHD.
Heavy use of social media can have detrimental effects on children aged 9-12, as it links to depression, anxiety, loneliness, and low self-esteem.
Online feedback
Teenagers spend a lot of their time on social media sharing photos, stories, and videos as a way to affirm their thoughts, perspectives, and physical appearance. Research finds that adolescents’ self-esteem is impacted by the kind of feedback they receive on their social profiles.
PRO
Seeking validation on social media can have benefits: It can provide opportunities for self-expression, increased self-esteem, and foster a sense of connection and support within the online community.
CON
However, these positive effects are accompanied by potential downsides, including social isolation. It’s important to recognize that the emotional impact of online validation can be short-lived, and reliance on external approval may make adolescents more vulnerable to negative feedback.
Overall, social media use comes with both benefits and drawbacks. It's important for parents to guide their children to use it in positive ways such as staying connected with friends, making new ones, and having fun, while also encouraging meaningful real-life interactions and and develop self-confidence beyond online validation.
Tip Sheets
Supporting your child’s online safety
Use this guide to learn 5 tips to help protect your child from online risks. This tip sheet covers digital awareness, content safety, online contact risks, critical thinking and cybersecurity.
Use these 5 tips to help your child build safe/healthy online habits
1. BE INVOLVED IN YOUR CHILD’S DIGITAL WORLD
- Stay informed about the social media, gaming platforms, and apps your child uses8. This knowledge will help you have open conversations about their online life
- Instead of just monitoring your child, actively participate. Play the video games they enjoy, create content together on their favorite apps, and explore new technology as a team
- Learn your child's online language, including slang and emojis, to better understand their conversations and spot potential red flags like cyberbullying or predatory behavior
Some examples of youth’s online lingo
- POS = Parent Over Shoulder
- KMS = Kill Myself (signals distress)
- Finsta = Fake Instagram
- LMIRL = Let’s Meet In Real Life (danger from stranger)
- Ghosting = Cutting off Communication with Someone
- Slay = Doing something great
Note: these terms are always evolving, so you may need to keep updated on the online lingo that emerges
2. REDUCE YOUR CHILD’S EXPOSURE TO HARMFUL CONTENT
- Consider installing filters and age restrictions on devices and platforms to block inappropriate content (found in privacy settings and content warning section on every device).
- Consider setting healthy boundaries (e.g., time limits, no screens at the dinner table).
- Consider watching content together with your child to monitor content.
3. PROTECT YOUR CHILD FROM ONLINE CONTACT RISKS
- Consider having a conversation with your child about online manipulation early on, for example.
- Grooming: when an adult builds a relationship with a child and then exploits them (sexually or emotionally).
- Catfishing: when someone creates a fake identity online.
- Emphasize that not everyone online is honest and who they say they are.
- Explain to your child that these are situations that could occur online and if ever they experience one of these situations they should talk to a trusted adult about it!
4. INTRODUCE THE CONCEPT OF A DIGITAL FOOTPRINT
- A digital footprint is the trail of information you leave behind through posts such as photos and comments.
- Let your child know that once an image is shared online, it will remain there forever!
- Also, encourage your child to think before they post and about who they are sharing their images with.
5. PROTECT YOUR CHILD FROM MALWARE, SCAMS, ONLINE GAMBLING
- Consider installing security softwares like:
- Norton 360
- Kaspersky Safe Kids
- McAfee Total Protection
- Encourage your kids not to click unknown links.
- Consider requiring permission for downloads and purchases on all devices.
- Encourage your child to cover their devices cameras when they are not in use by putting a piece of tape or a webcam cover to minimize breaches of privacy.
Promoting mental health in a digital world
- Helping children express feelings around their online
Create a safe zone!- Create a space of open, supportive communication where they feel safe, heard, and accepted when expressing their thoughts and emotions
- Open up about your online feelings! Let kids know all feelings are valid and it’s okay to talk about them. Remind them they can always come to you with questions, no judgment, just support.
- Encouraging offline activities and social connection
- The real world is just as fun as the virtual one! The online world is fun, but the real world has so much to offer too! Encourage your kids to try activities like sports, art, music, clubs, or volunteering. It’s a great way to spark interests, build skills, and make new friends.
- You cannot receive a hug online! The internet helps kids stay connected, but nothing beats face-to-face time with friends. In-person interactions builds stronger bonds and helps develop key social skills like empathy and listening.
- Knowing when to seek professional help: Assess the severity!
- Things to keep in mind: Use this guide to help spot signs of cyberbullying
- Frequency – Was it one-time or ongoing?
- Content – Was it just rude or more serious, like threats?
- Impact – How is your child coping? Look for signs of stress, anxiety, or withdrawal.
- If it’s persistent, severe, or clearly affecting your child’s well-being, reach out for support from a counsellor or mental health professional.
- Things to keep in mind: Use this guide to help spot signs of cyberbullying
While parents can be a strong support, sometimes children prefer to speak to somebody outside the family, like a mental health support worker or counsellor. Where to get help (Quebec & Canada-wide):
- Aire ouverte: Free walk-in support for ages 12–25.
- CLSC: Quebec mental health services and support.
- Kids Help Phone: Canada-wide, 24/7 online and phone support.
This information is evidence based. Click here for a complete list of resources!