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Help children stay safer online

Make a family safety plan, set up parental controls together, limit personal information sharing and know how to get help.

Print a task checklist on paper or save as PDF. Tick off completed tasks and cross out device options that do not apply. Print all guides.

Name ____________________   Started __________   Finished __________

At a glance

TIME
About 30 minutes to start, plus regular conversations
COST
Free for the built-in controls and resources below
NEED
Time with your child, their device and your family account settings
UPDATED
November 2026

Start with a conversation

Set aside 20 minutes together. Ask your child to open their three most-used apps or games and show you how they chat, add friends and share posts. Use those apps for the settings checks below.

The steps

Agree on how to ask for help

Choose two trusted adults your child can talk to if a message, call or person makes them uncomfortable. Tell them they can come to you even if they clicked something, shared a photo or broke a family rule.

Practice a simple response together. Close the conversation, stop replying and ask an adult for help. Make clear that pressure to keep a conversation secret, send sexual images or meet someone privately is a reason to seek help. NCMEC resources for families

Give your child their own account

Use the platform’s child or teen account setup with their correct birth date. Connect it to your family group where supported. Keep the parent account protected with a unique password and two-step sign-in.

Apple family

Open Settings → Family on your device. Add your child’s existing Apple Account, or use the child-account creation option if they need one. Check that their name appears in your family group.

Google family

Open the Family Link setup guide below and add supervision to your child’s Google Account, or create a child account if needed. Sign in with that account on their supported device. Check that the device appears under your child in Family Link.

Use the child’s correct birth date and read the age and device requirements shown during setup. Apple family setup and parental controls · Get started with Google Family Link

Set up controls on an iPhone or iPad

On your own iPhone or iPad, open Settings → Family → your child’s name. Open Content & Privacy Restrictions to review age ratings, then Apps & Websites to review web access and purchase approvals. On older software, start in Settings → Screen Time and choose your child under Family. Protect the settings with a Screen Time passcode your child does not know.

For a child who needs app approval, turn on purchase approval in Apps & Websites → Restrictions → Ask to Buy. Choose an age rating that matches your child. Together, request a new free app and confirm the request reaches you before approving it. Test a call or message to a parent afterward. Apple parental-control instructions

Set up controls on Android or Chromebook

  1. In Family Link, select your child and open Controls → Google Play.
  2. Under Purchases & download approvals, open Require approval for and choose All content if you want to approve new downloads.
  3. Review the age ratings for apps and games.
  4. Together, request a new free app on the child’s device and confirm you receive the approval request.

These approval settings apply to Google Play’s billing system. Google Play approval instructions

Test the settings on your child’s supervised device. Family Link’s available controls depend on the device and service. If your child uses an iPhone or iPad, use Apple’s device controls for those devices. Manage Google parental controls · Family Link account and device capabilities

Review who can contact your child

In each of the three apps you chose, open its Privacy, Safety or Who can contact me settings.

  1. Choose Private or Friends only for the profile when offered.
  2. Limit direct messages and friend requests to known contacts where supported.
  3. Turn off public location sharing.
  4. Open the friend list together and remove unfamiliar contacts after discussing who they are.

Open an account’s profile or a message’s menu and locate Block and Report together. Show where the buttons are without submitting a practice report. Agree that unexpected requests for money, passwords or private photos go to a trusted adult before anyone responds.

Review what your family shares

Look through public profiles and recent posts together. Remove school names, addresses, live location and routine details you want to keep private. Review photos for visible school badges, documents and location clues before posting.

Ask your child before sharing their photo or a story about them, and respect their answer. Include relatives who regularly post about your family in the same conversation.

If a child is threatened or pressured

Respond calmly and thank them for telling you. Stay with them while you work out the next step. For immediate physical danger, contact local emergency services.

For threats involving sexual images or demands for money, stop responding and seek help promptly. Report the account through the platform, then block it. Keep the existing account and messages available for reporting. Note usernames, profile links and dates. In the U.S., report suspected online child sexual exploitation through NCMEC’s CyberTipline. NCMEC guidance on sextortion · CyberTipline reporting information

For nude, partially nude or sexually explicit images taken when the person was under 18, NCMEC’s Take It Down can help limit sharing on participating platforms. It creates a digital fingerprint on the person’s device. Use an image already on that device and follow the service’s instructions. Avoid downloading, forwarding or asking someone to send an image for this purpose. Take It Down

Common questions

Will parental controls catch every problem?

Keep checking in with your child and reviewing settings as their apps and friendships change. Controls work best alongside conversations and a clear way to ask for help.

Should I freeze my child’s credit too?

Consider a protected-consumer freeze. The credit-freeze guide links to official instructions for children’s files. Each bureau has its own process for verifying the child’s identity and your authority to act.

You’re done when

Your child knows whom to ask for help, you have tested the relevant device controls, and you have reviewed contact and sharing settings together. Put a 10-minute follow-up on your calendar for next week. Ask what the settings blocked, what worked, and whether anyone contacted them unexpectedly.

Sources and review

Reviewed November 11, 2026. This guide draws on Apple and Google’s family-control instructions and NCMEC’s prevention and reporting resources linked above. Reporting information is for the United States. Device features and account-age requirements vary by country.

Make a family plan

  • Set aside 20 minutes with your child and open their three most-used apps or games.
  • Choose two trusted adults they can ask for help.
  • Practice closing an uncomfortable conversation, stopping replies and asking an adult for help.
  • Tell your child they can ask for help even after sharing something or breaking a family rule.

Accounts and parental controls

  • Give the child their own account with their correct birth date and connect it to your family group.
  • Protect the parent account with a unique password and two-step sign-in.
  • Apple — Settings → Family → child’s name. Review Content & Privacy Restrictions and Apps & Websites.
  • Set age ratings and enable Ask to Buy when your child needs app approval. Keep the Screen Time passcode private.
  • Google — Family Link → child → Controls → Google Play. Review age ratings and set Require approval for to All content if you want download approval.
  • Request a free app together and confirm the approval request reaches you.
  • Test that the child can still call or message a parent.

Contact and sharing settings

  • In each selected app, choose Private or Friends only where offered.
  • Limit messages and friend requests to known contacts where supported.
  • Turn off public location sharing.
  • Review the friend list together and remove unfamiliar contacts after discussing them.
  • Find the Block and Report buttons together.
  • Remove public school names, addresses, live locations and routine details you want private.
  • Review photos for school badges, documents and location clues before posting.
  • Ask before sharing your child’s photo and agree on the same rule with relatives.
  • Schedule a 10-minute follow-up for next week.

If a child is threatened

  • Stay with the child, thank them for telling you and stop replies to the person threatening them.
  • For immediate physical danger, contact local emergency services.
  • Report the account, block it, and keep existing messages and account details available for reporting.
  • Record usernames, profile links and dates.
  • Report suspected online child sexual exploitation through NCMEC’s CyberTipline.
  • If an explicit image taken before age 18 is already on the person’s device, follow Take It Down. Avoid downloading or forwarding an image for this purpose.

Notes and follow-up

Next action ______________________________   Date __________