Advice

• Don’t give out personal information. No one should give out their name, age, address, school name, phone number or photos of themselves online, in chat rooms, by email, by instant message or clubs online.
• Don’t talk to strangers. This age-old advice is especially important online, in almost all circumstances. If you don’t know the person, you should “unfriend” them on Facebook, and don’t let them follow or be a follower on Instagram!
• Never meet with an online “friend” in person, especially without a parent accompanying you. Dangerous strangers can easily pretend online to be someone they are not.
• Don’t respond to strange requests. If you receive an instant message from a stranger that seems inappropriate in some way, log off and notify an adult immediately. Especially if this person is asking you about sensitive information, something to do with your location, or for photos. If you feel uncomfortable, notify an adult.
• Do not accept online messages from strangers. Do not open or accept emails, links, attachments, URLs or anything else from someone you do not know and trust in real life.
• If somebody is being mean to you, or rude, then you do not need to talk to this person. Simply log off and ignore any messages, then notify an adult.