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KOHS Report: Online Health and Safety Resources
Best Practices for Parents and Caregivers Compendium
The Task Force collected an extensive set of federal and non-federal best-practice resources for promoting the online health and safety of children and adolescents. To make it easy to find resources related to social media and online platforms, the compendium has been organized into the following categories:
General Information about Youth & Social Media Platforms
Resources in this section include the Surgeon General’s Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health, as well as practical tips from the Federal Trade Commission for protecting children’s safety online, and NetSmartz, an online safety education program from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
- The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory - Social Media and Youth Mental Health (PDF | 1 MB)
This Advisory calls attention to the growing concerns about the effects of social media on youth mental health. It explores and describes the current evidence on the positive and negative impacts of social media on children and adolescents, some of the primary areas for mental health and well-being concerns, and opportunities for additional research to help understand the full scope and scale of social media’s impact. - Protecting Kids Online
This resource provides tips for parents from the Federal Trade Commission about protecting children’s online safety. - NetSmartz
NetSmartz is the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s online safety education program that provides age-appropriate videos and activities to help teach children how to be safer online. - Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media gathers data and publishes articles about the impact of media and technology on kids’ physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development. - Engaging, Safe, and Evidence-Based: What Science Tells Us About How to Promote Positive (PDF | 1 KB)
Development and Decrease Risk in Online Spaces
This report provides guidelines and recommendations for establishing healthy and developmentally considerate digital technology use for children and adolescents.
Tools to Support Parents Navigating Social Media and Online Platforms
The following are a set of tools geared towards children and parents to help navigate social media and online platforms, including resources from U.S. government agencies and national non-profit national organizations that focus on specific tools to help promote online health and safety.
- Selfies, Social, And Screens: Navigating Virtual Spaces For Youth (PDF | 2.8 MB)
This toolkit provides information, tips, and resources for young people, parents and caregivers, and school personnel on how to protect youth mental health in a digital world. - Net Cetera: Chatting with Kids About Being Online
A guide for parents, teachers, and other adults, with conversation starters on how to talk to kids about being online. Offers practical advice about how to help kids make good decisions and stay safe, including socializing online, protecting their privacy, mobile devices, computer security, and dealing with cyberbullying. - Being Tech Smart, A Plug & Play Activity for Youth
Classroom lesson designed to supplement youth-serving organizations’ programming with middle and high school youth by engaging youth in pondering questions about digital technology (e.g., social media use, accepting/declining friend requests, giving out personal information) and encouraging them to think twice before using technology. - Considerations for Social Media Monitoring and Response
Social media monitoring resources. - Family Tech Planners
Families can use these tech planners (offered by age groups of 2–8yo, 9–12yo, and 13+) to facilitate conversations about tech use as a family. - Parent Guides
ConnectSafely provides a collection of parent guidebooks that demystify apps, services, and platforms popular with kids and teens. They also touch on topics including Cyberbullying, Parental Controls, and Teen Sextortion Scams. - Heads Up: Stop. Think. Connect.
Written for kids, a resource available in twelve languages to help children stand up to cyberbullying, protect their personal information, share with care, and stay safe online. - Early Learning and Educational Technology Policy Brief
This guidance aims to help those who care for children from birth to age eight make wise decisions about media use and provides four guiding principles for families and early educators on the use of technology with young children.
Digital Citizenship
Resources include presentations to educate children on being digital citizens, guides for parents to help their children navigate online space, and specific lessons for youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities to help them identify online risks and develop healthy online relationships.
- Parent and Family Digital Learning Guide
Helpful explanations, guidance, and links to additional resources developed by the Office of Educational Technology at the Department of Education to support parents and caregivers as they and their children navigate online learning and digital learning tools. This guide also addresses challenging questions related to digital learning that can come up for families, such as safety, privacy, and civil rights. - Digital Citizenship Resources for Family Engagement
Common Sense Education’s Digital Citizenship Resources for Family Engagement include Tips and Activities by age on topics including Privacy and Security; Digital Footprint & Identity; and Cyberbullying, Digital Drama, and Hate Speech. - Internet Keep Safe Coalition (iKeepSafe)
The iKeepSafe mission is to provide a safe digital landscape for children, schools, and families by supporting the protection of student privacy, while advancing learning in a digital culture. - Digital Citizenship for Youth with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Set of two interactive lessons adapted from Digital Citizenship. The lessons are designed to teach youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to identify online risk and develop healthy online relationships. The lessons are adapted for youth ages 10-21 with mild-to-moderate IDD.
Bullying & Cyberbullying
Resources include materials that define these terms and list applicable laws and provide examples of court cases; training modules for teachers; scenarios for teachers on how to handle incidents of cyberbullying; lesson plans for teachers; tips and digital awareness information for families; and guidance to help schools create bullying prevention systems.
- StopBullying.gov
StopBullying.gov provides information from various government agencies on how to respond to and prevent bullying, including cyberbullying and how to promote digital wellbeing. - Lessons from the Field Webinar Series, Preventing and Intervening in Identity-Based Bullying- National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments
The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Office of Safe and Supportive Schools, and the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments hosted the Lessons from the Field Webinar on Preventing and Identity-Based Bullying. - PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center
PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center provides resources for students, parents, educators, and others, on topics related to bullying and cyberbullying focused on children and youth with disabilities. Additionally, “What Parents Should Know About Bullying” is that provides parents with information related to school-family partnerships, mobile and online safety, and tips for helping their child if they are a being bullied. - Violence Prevention: School-Based Anti-Bullying Interventions
The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends school-based anti-bullying interventions to reduce bullying experiences and improve mental health among students. Systematic review of evidence shows that when interventions are implemented in schools, students report fewer episodes of bullying perpetration, fewer episodes of bullying victimization, and fewer mental health symptoms such as anxiety and depression.
Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
Resources include how to protect children from online harm; national strategies to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse; videos and activities to teach kids how to be safe online; information about awareness campaigns; and a curriculum to provide youth with information and skills to make safe choices and use support systems.
- Know2Protect
Know2Protect: Together We Can Stop Online Child Exploitation is a national public awareness campaign sponsored by DHS to raise awareness about the rapidly escalating threat of online child sexual exploitation and abuse. Know2Protect will educate kids, parents, trusted adults, policymakers, and the broader public about online threats and empower them to help keep kids safe online; explain how to report online enticement and victimization; and offer response and support resources for victims and survivors of online child sexual exploitation. - U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section: Keeping Children Safe Online
Variety of resources for kids and parents to keep children safe online. - Parents, Caregivers, and Teachers: Protecting Your Kids (FBI)
Multiple resources geared toward protecting children from online harms. - SchoolSafety.gov Topic Page: Child Exploitation
Resources on SchoolSafety.gov cover a broad range of school safety topics and threats, including child exploitation. - Not a Number
Not a Number is an interactive child trafficking and exploitation prevention curriculum designed to provide youth with information and skills in a manner that inspires them to make safe choices. - Sextortion Victim Resource
Sextortion-related information and resources from the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program. - Sextortion resources
Overview of extortion; questions and answers for kids and caregivers; stories and podcasts; wide array of media. - TakeItDown
TakeItDown is a free service that facilitates removal of intimate or explicit images or videos shared online without consent. Service aims to help survivors regain control over their privacy and prevent further harm by facilitating the removal of such content from websites and social media platforms.
Teen Dating Violence and Other Forms of Gender-based Violence
Resources include information about a national, toll-free telephone, text, and online chat hotline for American Indian/Alaska Native adult and youth victims; the national teen dating violence chat and helpline; the national domestic violence hotline; the national helpline for image-based abuse; and resources for taking down non-consensual intimate images (StopNCII.org) and child sexual abuse material (Take It Down).
- National Domestic Violence Hotline - Love is Respect
The National Domestic Violence Love is Respect Hotline is a national resource to disrupt and prevent unhealthy relationships and intimate partner violence by empowering young people through inclusive and equitable education, support, and resources. - Dating Matters®
Dating Matters is an evidence-based teen dating violence prevention model developed by the CDC that includes prevention strategies for individuals, peers, families, schools, and neighborhoods. It focuses on teaching 11–14-year-olds healthy relationship skills before they start dating and reducing behaviors that increase the risk for dating violence, like substance abuse and sexual risk-taking. - StopNCII (Stop Non-Consensual Intimate Images)
StopNCII is an online platform that helps individuals protect their privacy by preventing distribution of intimate images shared without consent. It uses technology to detect and remove such content from online platforms. - Image Abuse Helpline and Safety Center
The Image Abuse Helpline and Safety Center is a dedicated resource providing support and guidance to individuals affected by non-consensual sharing of intimate images. Offers confidential advice, emotional support and practical assistance to help victims navigate the process of removing abusive content online. - The Safety Net Project
National Network to End Domestic Violence provides resources on the intersection of technology and domestic and sexual violence and works to address how it impacts the safety, privacy, accessibility, and civil rights of victims. - StrongHearts Native Helpline
The StrongHearts Native Helpline 1-844-7NATIVE (762-8483) is in operation 24 hours a day. This national, toll-free telephone, text, and online chat hotline provides information and assistance to adult and youth victims of family violence, domestic violence, or dating violence; family and household members of such victims; and persons affected by the victimization, including provision to support American Indian/Alaska Native communities.
Last Updated: 07/30/2024