How to keep children from online predators

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Online security is an ever-present issue for young families, and safety for children is a bigger issue now than ever before. One Utah expert is urging parents to keep up-to-date as technology evolves.

“Predators are getting more aggressive in how they do things,” Michelle Busch-Upwall, Internet Crimes Against Children Education Specialist, told ABC4.com.

Whether it’s Snapchat, Instagram, or Facebook, online predators can communicate with children in more ways than one.

“They can come out of state to meet them. We hear a lot more who are crossing state lines, but there’s a lot in-state and out-of-county. A lot of the sextortion cases are out of county,” Busch-Upwall said.

Busch-Upwall is an internet crimes specialist who says most of the time, predators groom kids by earning their trust first and then eventually persuading them to meet in person. 

“They identify them as a friend or boyfriend/girlfriend, so they’ve gained that trust through the grooming process and that’s the way they are meeting offline,” Busch-Upwall said.

This is something John McGee worries about when his two-year-old daughter gets older.

“We will have tabs on her phone to the best of our abilities,” McGee said.

McGee continued: “Whenever we decide to give her a phone, we will have all the conversations and do all the research. It’s a very scary thing, all that’s going on with cybersecurity right now.”

Other parents share McGee’s concerns. 

“She’s probably not allowed to have social media until she’s 14 and even then it will be limited,” Adam Rudy said of his daughter. 

Busch-Upwall says it’s important for parents to have hard technology conversations with their children early on. 

“Because things evolve. I always tell parents, I know it’s really tough with the acronyms and emojis and all the things that are happening, like AI and new technology — make sure you keep yourself up on that as much as you can,” Busch-Upwall said.

The Family Online Safety Institute offers several steps for parents for “good digital parenting.” Some of the steps include parents talking with children often in an open manner, searching for anything they don’t understand, and using parental controls on kids’ devices.

The FBI also has resources online to explain sextortion and the resources available. You can report child pornography to law enforcement by contacting the ICAC Tip Line at (801) 281-1211 or your local law enforcement agency.