Parents, Caregivers, and Teachers: Protecting Your Kids

Get advice and information to help protect your children from dangers lurking in both the online and offline worlds. Learn how to contact us and report child abductions and sexual exploitation.

How to Report a Missing Child or Online Child Exploitation

The FBI has jurisdiction to immediately investigate any reported mysterious disappearance or kidnapping involving a child. Do not wait to report a missing child.

Call your local FBI field office or the closest international office. You can also contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST.

To report online child sexual exploitation, use the electronic Cyber Tip Line or call 1-800-843-5678. The Cyber Tip Line is operated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in partnership with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies.

If your child is being abducted internationally by a family member and is not yet abroad, contact the U.S. Department of State

National Sex Offender Registry

The National Sex Offender website allows every citizen to search the latest information from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, and numerous Indian tribes for the identity and location of known sex offenders.

Online Risks

The internet, for all of its benefits, also gives criminals and predators an easy way to reach young people. The FBI most often sees crimes against children begin when an adult:

• Forges a relationship with a young victim online and then later arranges to meet and abuse the child; or
• Coerces a child into producing sexually explicit images or videos through manipulation, gifts, or threats—a crime called sextortion.

The most important advice for parents is to have open and ongoing conversations about safe and appropriate online behavior. Other advice to consider:

• Educate yourself about the websites, software, games, and apps that your children use.
• Check their social media and gaming profiles and posts. Have conversations about what is appropriate to say or share.
• Explain to your kids that once images or comments are posted online they can be shared with anyone and never truly disappear.
• Make sure your kids use privacy settings to restrict access to their online profiles.
• Tell your children to be extremely wary when communicating with anyone online who they do not know in real life.
• Encourage kids to choose appropriate screen names and to create strong passwords.
• Make it a rule with your kids that they can’t arrange to meet up with someone they met online without your knowledge and supervision.
• Stress to your children that making any kind of threat online—even if they think it’s a joke—is a crime.
• Report any inappropriate contact between an adult and your child to law enforcement immediately. Notify the site they were using, too.

Safe Online Surfing Program

The FBI’s Safe Online Surfing (SOS) program teaches students in grades 3 to 8 how to navigate the web safely. The age-appropriate lessons and games cover topics like cyberbullying, protecting personal information, recognizing trustworthy and untrustworthy sites, and avoiding malware. The program is available in English or Spanish.

Anyone can complete the activities on the FBI SOS website. The testing and competition, however, are only open to students in grades 3-8 whose teachers have registered their public, private, or home schools through the SOS website.