Age-Appropriate Online Safety Conversations: A UK Parents' Guide for 2026

Why conversations matter (more than the tech)

I have spent seven articles in this series walking you through technical parental controls. ISP filters, Apple Screen Time, Google Family Link, gaming consoles, social media safety settings, router controls, free DNS filtering. All of it useful. All of it free or near-free. All of it worth setting up.

And none of it will save your child the way a single honest conversation will.

I do not say that to undermine the technical layers. Technical controls are the floor: they catch the obvious risks before they reach your child, they remove temptation, and they make the easy path the safe one. But the floor is not the ceiling. When something genuinely difficult happens online, when your eight-year-old is shown a beheading video on YouTube Shorts, when your eleven-year-old is added to a WhatsApp group sharing nudes, when your fourteen-year-old is being love-bombed by a stranger on Discord, the determining factor is not which DNS service you chose. It is whether your child can come to you and tell you.

Internet Matters' 2024 research, repeated in their 2026 follow-up, found that one in six UK parents never or rarely talk to their children about online safety. Of those who said they had not had a recent conversation, 30% believed their kids were too young, and 21% thought their child already knew everything they needed to know. Both of these are wrong. Children as young as four are now experiencing online harm in measurable numbers, and no child of any age knows everything they need to know.

This is the eighth deep-dive in the BroadbandSwitch.uk online safety series and the most important one. If you only read one article in the series, read this one. If you have done none of the technical setup but you are reading this and your child trusts you, you are doing better than the parent who has done all the setup but never talks to their kids.

If you have not already, start with the main parents' hub for the layered safety framework. But before, alongside, or after the technology, have the conversations.

Eight evergreen principles for every age

Before the age-by-age breakdown, here are the principles that apply whether your child is four or fourteen. Internalise these and the specifics fall into place.

Under 5: the toddler years

The conversations at this age are very simple and mostly about establishing the framework that lasts for the next decade. Toddlers cannot understand abstract concepts like "online predators" but they absolutely understand simple rules and the idea of telling a parent when something feels wrong.

The three things to teach

1. Some things on screens are for children, some are not, and we know the difference together. When a young child wants to watch something, they ask. Not because the parent is gatekeeping but because that is the family pattern.
2. If something on the screen feels scary or yucky, tell me. Toddlers are emotionally honest in a way teenagers are not. Use that. Make sure they know that telling a parent something on the screen has upset them is exactly the right thing to do, not something to feel embarrassed about.
3. Pictures of you stay in our family. In an era of smartphones constantly photographing children, get into the habit early of asking before posting any photo of them and explaining why some photos do not get shared.

Conversation starters

NSPCC Talk PANTS for under-7s

The NSPCC's Talk PANTS framework is widely used in UK primary schools and translates beautifully to early online safety conversations. PANTS stands for:

P - Privates are private

Your private parts are private. Nobody should ask to see them, and you should not show them to anyone, in person or in a photo or video.

A - Always remember your body belongs to you

You are in charge of your body. You can say no to anything, including hugs, photos, or being touched.

N - No means no

If you say no, the other person should stop. And you should stop if someone says no to you.

T - Talk about secrets that upset you

Some surprises are happy ones, like a birthday present. But if a secret makes you feel bad, sad or worried, tell a grown-up.

S - Speak up, someone can help

Always tell an adult if something has happened that upset you. You will not be in trouble. Helpers include parents, teachers, aunts, uncles, or Childline (0800 1111).

Teach this once, refer back to it whenever it is relevant. The framework lasts a lifetime.

Ages 6-10: primary school

Primary school is when children start using genuinely social platforms for the first time, usually through online games. Roblox, Minecraft and Fortnite (when allowed) all have open or semi-open chat features, which means strangers can communicate with your child even if you have never given them a phone. The conversations at this age are about basic skepticism, basic privacy, and starting to build the habit of checking with a parent before doing anything significant.

The five things to teach

1. People online may not be who they say they are. In Roblox or Fortnite, the kid you are chatting with might not actually be a kid. This is not scary; it is just a fact, like how the cartoon dog on YouTube is actually a person in a recording studio.
2. Real friends do not ask for secrets. Anyone genuinely your friend would be happy for your parents to know what you are talking about. If someone says "do not tell your parents", that is a sign something is wrong.
3. Personal information stays in your head. Your full name, your school, your address, your phone number, your photo: these are not things to share online with people you do not know in real life.
4. If something feels wrong, stop and tell me. Children do not need to articulate why something feels wrong; the feeling is enough. Reinforce that you would always rather they tell you.
5. You can always block, mute or leave. Every game and app has a way to stop talking to someone. Show them how once, then again later, then again.

Conversation starters

The "would you say it to Granny" test

A genuinely useful test for this age group: "If you would not say it out loud at the dinner table with Granny there, do not type it on the internet." Children find this funny enough that it sticks, and it covers swearing, mean comments, body humour and sharing personal information all at once.

Ages 11-13: early secondary

This is the hardest age, and arguably the most important. Most UK children get their first smartphone between 10 and 12. Most start using social media (often by lying about their age) between 11 and 13. Most have encountered some form of online unpleasantness by 13. The combination of new social independence, biological adolescence, and unfettered internet access produces the moment of greatest risk in a child's online life.

The good news: 11-13 year olds, although they may not look it, are still genuinely receptive to parents who approach them right. They desperately want guidance even when they pretend they do not. Conversations at this age set the pattern for the next five years.

The seven things to teach

1. What you post is more permanent than it feels. Snapchat messages may "disappear" but screenshots do not. Group chats can be screenshotted and forwarded forever. WhatsApp messages can be saved. Anything you would not want your future university admissions tutor to see, do not type.
2. Algorithms feed you what keeps you scrolling, not what is true or good for you. TikTok, Instagram and YouTube are designed to maximise time-in-app, not your wellbeing. Recognise when you are being manipulated.
3. Group chats are not private. Anything in a group with five or more people will probably get shared. Treat group chat content like a school noticeboard.
4. Cyberbullying is bullying. Sending nasty messages or sharing embarrassing photos is just as serious as doing it in person. Standing by while it happens to someone else is the same as joining in.
5. If anyone, online or in school, asks for a photo of you with no clothes, the answer is always no. Even if it is someone you fancy. Even if they say everyone does it. Even if they have sent you one. No, never, full stop.
6. Sleep matters more than the latest post. The science is overwhelming: teenagers who do not sleep do worse academically, have worse mental health, and are more anxious. Phones in bedrooms at night are the single biggest sleep destroyer.
7. I will never read your messages without telling you. And I will never punish you for telling me something difficult. Mean both, then keep both.

Conversation starters

The "what would you do if..." game

One of the best techniques at this age is hypothetical questions. Children answer hypotheticals more honestly than direct questions. Try:

• "What would you do if a friend sent you a nude of someone else in your year?"
• "What would you do if a stranger on Discord said they liked your gaming and offered to give you Robux if you added them on Snapchat?"
• "What would you do if you saw a video showing someone hurting themselves?"
• "What would you do if your friends were all sharing a video that you knew was fake but was about a real person?"

Listen to the answer. Then ask: "Why? And then what?" This is the way you find out what your child thinks about hard situations, without it feeling like an interrogation.

Ages 14-17: older teens

The conversations at this age are different in kind, not just scale. A 15-year-old is essentially a young adult who happens to live in your house, with brain development that gives them the capacity for genuinely sophisticated conversations about ethics, mental health, intimacy, and risk. Treat them as such.

Two things change at this age compared to earlier years. First, your role shifts from supervisor to advisor. Second, the conversations get much more two-way: you genuinely want to know what they think, not just transmit your views to them.

The seven things to keep talking about

1. How algorithms shape what you believe. By 14, teenagers can grasp the political and emotional manipulation behind their feeds. Discuss the actual mechanics: how engagement maximisation creates more extreme content, why echo chambers form, why "you might also like" is rarely actually about what is good for you.
2. Mental health and screens are connected. Doom-scrolling, comparison anxiety, late-night scrolling, the validation cycle of likes. Teenagers can recognise these patterns when named, and many will admit (privately) they are aware of them.
3. Pornography is performance, not intimacy. Almost every UK 14-year-old has seen some. Pretending otherwise is dishonest. Talk about it directly, calmly, and without shame.
4. Consent applies online too. Sharing someone else's photo without permission, screenshotting a private message and forwarding it, sending unwanted explicit content: all are violations of consent.
5. AI is not a friend. Many teenagers are now confiding in AI chatbots. Some report this is genuinely useful for working through anxious thoughts; many also report it has made them feel worse. The current generation of AI agrees too readily with users. This is dangerous for someone in distress.
6. Money online is real money. Crypto, in-game purchases, gambling, betting apps, financial scams. Teenagers are statistically the fastest-growing victims of online fraud in the UK.
7. You can come to me. I will not panic. By 16, teenagers know whether their parents can handle a difficult conversation. Prove you can.

Conversation starters

What to actively step back from at this age

Older teens need you to retreat in specific ways:

• Stop reading their messages, even with the parental control tools. By 14, this is corrosive to trust. Move to relationship-based oversight: ask them, do not snoop.
• Loosen daily time limits. Discuss them rather than impose them.
• Let them make small mistakes. Failed assignments, posted-too-much-and-regretted-it, fell-out-with-a-friend-on-WhatsApp. These are how they learn. Catching every mistake means they never develop their own judgement.
• Let them have their own opinions. Including political, religious and aesthetic ones you disagree with. Argument with a teenager who feels heard is fine. Suppression of a teenager's emerging identity is not.

Going to university or moving out: the handover conversation

This is the conversation that closes the parental control chapter. Your child is now legally an adult, going somewhere you cannot supervise. All the technical layers in this guide series are about to drop away. What you have left is the relationship and what you have taught them.

What to talk about

• Financial scams targeting students. Money mules, fake bank texts, romance scams, get-rich-quick crypto, "investment opportunities" from fellow students. UK Finance reports a substantial rise in teenage victims.
• Substance content normalisation. Social media at university normalises nights out, drinking and substances. The reality of consent, of safe drinking, of mental health support.
• The mental health cliff. University is a time of substantial mental health risk for many young adults. Make sure they know where to go: GP, university wellbeing service, Samaritans (116 123), Mind, Nightline.
• Digital footprint for jobs. Future employers will Google them. This is the time to clean up old social media if needed.
• You are still here. The most important thing. Whatever happens, they can call. No problem too big. No mistake unforgivable.

Conversation starter

Topic: strangers and grooming

Online grooming is the single biggest contact-based safeguarding concern for UK families. CEOP (the Child Exploitation and Online Protection command) reports that the average grooming case in 2025 lasted just over four weeks from first contact to attempted abuse. Pattern-recognition is the most useful thing you can teach.

The grooming pattern (briefly)

1. Initial friendly contact, often shared interest (a game, a fandom, a YouTuber)
2. Compliments and emotional bonding (love-bombing)
3. Move from public/semi-public space to private (Discord DMs, Snapchat, WhatsApp)
4. Introduction of secrets ("don't tell your parents")
5. Gifts (Robux, V-Bucks, Steam codes)
6. Gradual normalisation of inappropriate content or requests
7. Isolation from real-world friends and family
8. Escalation to direct abuse, threats, or in-person meeting

What to teach by age

Detailed warning signs are in the next deep-dive

For the full warning signs of grooming and what to do if you suspect it, see the recognising warning signs deep-dive and the reporting and getting help guide.

Topic: cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is the most common online harm UK children experience. Childline counselling sessions in 2025 logged over 6,000 separate cyberbullying contacts. Conversations should cover how to spot it, how to respond, and how not to participate.

What to teach

• What counts as cyberbullying: not just direct nasty messages. Deliberate exclusion from group chats. Sharing screenshots to mock someone. Creating fake accounts to humiliate. Repeated mean comments under posts. Sending unwanted explicit content.
• If it happens to you: do not respond, screenshot for evidence, block, report on the platform, tell a parent or trusted adult, contact the school if it involves classmates.
• If it happens to someone else: do not join in, do not laugh, do not screenshot to share. Tell an adult. If safe, message the person being bullied to say you saw it and you are sorry.
• If you find yourself doing it: stop. Apologise. Delete what you posted. This is the conversation no parent wants but every parent might need.

Conversation starter

UK-specific note: schools have a legal duty

Under UK law, schools have a duty to address bullying including online bullying that affects school life. If your child is being cyberbullied by classmates, contact the school's safeguarding lead. See the reporting and getting help guide for the full process.

Topic: pornography

This is the conversation many UK parents avoid the longest and regret avoiding. The British Board of Film Classification's research shows that the average age UK children first see pornography is around 11, and the most common route is accidentally (an unrelated search, a link from a friend, a pop-up ad). Pretending this has not happened to your child does not help them.

What to teach by age

Specific things to mention

• Consent. Both partners enthusiastically agreeing, every time, throughout. Not what porn shows.
• Communication. Real intimacy involves talking, not silent performance.
• Diversity of bodies. Real human bodies look different from edited, lit and surgically altered performers.
• Violence. Mainstream pornography increasingly normalises aggressive behaviour. This is performance, not relationship.
• Addiction risk. Heavy use of pornography can become compulsive in ways that affect relationships and mental health.

Conversation starter

Topic: nudes and sexting

This is the conversation that can have legal consequences as well as emotional ones. Under UK law, taking, sending, possessing or distributing a sexual image of anyone under 18, including yourself, is a criminal offence. The realistic application of this law for under-18s is mostly aimed at coercion and distribution, not consensual exchanges, but the law applies.

What to teach

• The legal reality: taking, sending or having a sexual image of someone under 18 is a criminal offence in the UK, including images of yourself.
• The forever problem: any image sent online may end up anywhere. Snapchat is not safe; screenshots and screen recording exist.
• The pressure pattern: almost all teenage sexting starts with one party pressuring another. "If you loved me you would." "Everyone does it." "I will share what we have already done if you do not." These are coercion, not romance.
• If someone has shared an image of you: it is not your fault. Use the IWF's Report Remove tool which is free, confidential, and designed for under-18s in the UK. Tell a parent.
• If you have an image of someone else: delete it. Do not forward it. If you have already forwarded it, tell a parent and stop.

Conversation starter

The IWF Report Remove tool

The Internet Watch Foundation operates Report Remove, a UK service specifically for under-18s to confidentially report sexual images of themselves that have been shared online. The IWF works with platforms to have the images removed. It is free, confidential, and designed not to involve police unless the child wants to. Every UK parent should know this exists; every UK teenager should know it exists.

Topic: sleep and devices

This is one of the most important and least controversial conversations. The science is overwhelming: phones in bedrooms at night damage sleep, and damaged sleep damages everything else (mental health, academic performance, immune function, mood). This conversation is fundamentally not about screen time or content; it is about sleep.

What to teach

• Teenagers need 8-10 hours of sleep per night for healthy brain development. Most UK teenagers get 6-7.
• Phones in bedrooms reduce sleep quality even when not actively in use, because of the cortisol response to anticipated notifications.
• Late-night scrolling triggers the brain's reward system at exactly the time it should be winding down.
• "I'll just check one thing" is not a viable plan. Algorithms are designed to defeat that intention.

The household rule that works

The single most effective family rule, supported by sleep research and by every UK parent I know who has tried it, is: phones charge in the kitchen overnight, including parents' phones. This is not a punishment. This is the family rule for everyone, and it makes the conversation easy because there is no negotiation about who is exempt.

For most families this works best from age 8 onwards. By 16, you can negotiate; by 18 they can do what they want.

Conversation starter

Topic: AI chatbots and AI companions

This is the new conversation that did not exist three years ago. In 2026, UK teenagers are routinely using ChatGPT, Snapchat My AI, Character.ai, Replika and other AI tools for homework, advice, social rehearsal, and increasingly for what they describe as friendship. Some of this is genuinely useful. Some is concerning.

In February 2026 Meta announced new parental alerts on Instagram and on Meta AI for UK parents whose teen searches for or discusses topics related to suicide or self-harm. This is helpful, but only for the Meta AI specifically. Other AI tools have less protection.

What to teach

• AI is not a friend, even when it feels like one. AI is software that has been trained to be agreeable. It will validate whatever you tell it. This is dangerous in distress.
• AI can be wrong, especially on facts. Use AI like a fast assistant, not an oracle.
• AI cannot give you medical, legal, or therapeutic advice. When teenagers tell an AI they are struggling, the AI's response is generated text, not therapy.
• What you tell AI may be saved. ChatGPT and similar tools may use conversations to train future models. Treat AI conversations as semi-public.
• AI companions can become emotionally dependent relationships. Replika and Character.ai are designed to feel like relationships. This can be harmful especially for lonely or anxious teenagers.

Conversation starter

Topic: self-harm and suicide content

Talk to your teenager about self-harm content as a recognisable category, in the same way you would talk to them about other harmful patterns online. Do not avoid it. Avoiding it does not make it go away.

What to teach

• Self-harm content can appear in feeds even on accounts that have not searched for it.
• Algorithms can push more of this content once they detect interest.
• Most people who post about self-harm are themselves struggling, not predatory; this can make the content feel like solidarity, but it normalises harmful behaviours.
• If a friend posts something that suggests self-harm, take it seriously. Tell a trusted adult. Do not promise secrecy.
• If you are struggling, you can tell me. You can call Childline (0800 1111). You can call Samaritans (116 123). Always available, always free.

Conversation starter

UK 2026 update: Instagram parental alerts

From February 2026, UK parents using Instagram's Family Center supervision now receive alerts if their teen repeatedly searches for terms related to suicide or self-harm. This is rolled out alongside similar alerts on Meta AI conversations. See the social media safety settings deep-dive for setup details.

Topic: money, scams and gambling

UK Finance reports that fraud against teenagers is the fastest-growing fraud category in 2026. Scams targeting young people have got more sophisticated, and the platforms where teens spend time (TikTok, Instagram, Discord) are increasingly exploited by criminals.

What to teach

• "Get rich quick" is always a scam. Crypto pump-and-dump schemes, "I made £20,000 in a week trading", forex bot schemes, NFT flips.
• Money mules. "Let me transfer money through your bank account and I will pay you a fee." This is money laundering and is a criminal offence even for under-18s. Banks now actively prosecute teenage money mules.
• Romance scams. Anyone you have met only online who starts asking for money is a scam, no matter how real they feel.
• In-game gambling mechanisms. Loot boxes, FUT packs, CS skin gambling. These are designed to feel like fun but are essentially gambling.
• Phishing texts and emails. Royal Mail delivery, Apple iCloud locked, your bank, HMRC. All increasingly targeted at teenagers.
• Account hacking through fake login pages. Often spread by friends whose accounts have already been compromised.

Conversation starter

The "tell me without trouble" contract

The single most useful sentence I have used as a parent of four:

Say it. Say it again. Say it once a fortnight, casually, when you are doing something else together. And then, when it is tested, keep it.

The reason this matters: most online harms become serious not at the moment they happen but at the moment they go unreported. A child who tells you they have shared an inappropriate photo can have it taken down within hours through Report Remove. A child who does not tell you because they are afraid of being in trouble might still be carrying that secret three months later when it has spread further. The "tell me" promise is not soft parenting; it is the most pragmatic safeguarding move you have.

How to keep the promise when tested

The hard part is what you do when your child does come to you with something difficult. Some rules:

1. Stay calm visibly. Even if you are panicking inside, your face should not show it. A panicked face teaches them not to tell you next time.
2. Thank them for telling you. Out loud. "Thank you for telling me. That cannot have been easy."
3. Find out what happened. Not in a forensic interrogation way; in a "help me understand" way.
4. Take action together. Whatever the situation, the next step is what we do, not what they did.
5. Reaffirm the promise. "I am really glad you told me. Same goes for next time."

Resist the urge to ground them, take their phone away, or use the disclosure as a teaching moment. All of these break the contract. If consequences are needed, talk about them later, separately from the disclosure.

Family digital agreement template

A family digital agreement (sometimes called a tech contract) is a written set of rules everyone in the family follows, including parents. Here is a template UK families can adapt.

The [your family name] Digital Agreement

Where devices live: Phones and tablets are charged in the kitchen at night. Laptops live in shared spaces, not in bedrooms (until age 16). Consoles in the family room.

When devices are off: No screens at meals. No screens during family time on Sundays. Phones go to the kitchen at [agreed bedtime].

What apps are allowed: All app installations require parent approval until age 16. Some apps are not allowed at certain ages (we discuss specifics together).

Who you can talk to: People you know in real life, plus people we have agreed about. Anyone new who wants to talk to you privately, you tell us first.

What you tell us: Anything that has gone wrong online, you tell us. No punishment for telling. We will work it out together.

What we tell you: Why we have rules. When we are concerned about anything we have seen. When we have changed any settings.

What we never do: Read your messages without telling you. Take your devices away without explaining why. Punish you for being honest.

What you never do: Hide accounts from us. Give out personal information to strangers. Send or share inappropriate images.

How we change this agreement: We review it every six months together. Any of us can ask for changes. Older children get more freedom as we agree.

Signed by us all on [date].

Customise heavily. The point is the conversation when you write it together, not the document itself. Internet Matters and Childnet both publish free templates UK parents can adapt:

• Internet Matters digital family agreement template
• Childnet family agreement

What to do when conversations don't go well

Sometimes you sit down to talk and your teenager monosyllabic-grunts at you for ten minutes and then asks if they can leave. Sometimes you ask a careful question and get told to mind your own business. Sometimes you say the wrong thing and they shut down for three days.

This is normal. It is not a sign that conversations have failed; it is a sign that you have a teenager.

What to do

• Try a different time. Some children are more open after dinner, others in the morning, others in the car. You will learn theirs.
• Try a different format. Some children open up while doing something else (cooking, walking the dog, driving) more than face-to-face. Some open up via text more than in person.
• Drop the agenda. If they are not in the mood, do not force the topic. Try again next week.
• Acknowledge the resistance. "I can tell this is the last conversation you want to have right now. That is fine. But I am here whenever you want to come back to it."
• Apologise when you got it wrong. "I shouldn't have said that the way I said it. I am sorry. Can we try again?"
• Find another adult. Sometimes the right person to have the conversation is not you. See the next section.

What not to do

• Lecture harder.
• Take their phone away as a way to "make them listen".
• Bring it up again angrily ten minutes later.
• Tell their other parent to have the conversation in a way that feels like punishment.
• Pretend the conversation never happened.

Trusted adults beyond parents

Not every conversation has to be with you, and accepting this is one of the better things UK parents can do. Children sometimes cannot tell their parents difficult things; this does not mean they cannot tell anyone. Make sure they know who else is available.

Adults to introduce

• An aunt, uncle or older cousin they trust.
• A grandparent, especially for less internet-specific concerns.
• The school's safeguarding lead or pastoral team; every UK state and independent school has one.
• A trusted family friend you have agreed with in advance.
• Their GP, especially for health-related concerns.

UK helplines that work

Save Childline's number in your child's phone yourself. Even if they never use it, knowing it is there matters.

Honest limitations of conversations alone

Conversations are necessary but not sufficient. They are a layer, like the technical layers earlier in this series. Things conversations alone cannot do:

• Block obvious adult content from young children. Use the technical layers covered in earlier deep-dives.
• Prevent a determined predator from making contact. Layer with platform safety settings and reporting.
• Catch every concerning behaviour. Sometimes children hide things very well. Layer with parental supervision tools.
• Replace mental health support if it is needed. Talk to your GP, the school, or a specialist if something seems wrong.
• Stop algorithmic harm. TikTok or Instagram pushing harmful content to a vulnerable teenager is a system-level problem; individual conversations cannot solve it.

The right answer is layered defence: technology, conversations, supervision, professional support when needed, all working together. No single layer is sufficient.

What to do next

1. Pick one age-appropriate conversation starter from this guide. Just one. Try it this week. Choose a moment where there is no agenda (car ride, walking the dog, washing up).
2. If the conversation goes well, try another one next week. If it does not, try a different time or format. Do not give up.
3. Tell your child the "no trouble for telling me" promise out loud. Mean it. Then keep it the next time it is tested.
4. Save Childline's number (0800 1111) in your child's phone yourself. Tell them why.
5. If you have not yet drafted a family digital agreement, do so this month, with all family members including yourself agreeing the rules together.
6. Review your other safety layers using the rest of this BroadbandSwitch.uk series: main hub, UK ISP parental controls, Apple Screen Time, Google Family Link, gaming console controls, social media safety, router controls, free DNS filtering.
7. Read the next two articles: recognising warning signs and reporting and getting help.

Official resources and further reading

UK conversation guides

• NSPCC: talking to your child about online safety
• NSPCC: Talk PANTS
• Internet Matters: age-by-age advice (4-17)
• Thinkuknow (NCA-CEOP): parents and carers
• Childnet: help and advice for parents
• Parent Zone

Help and support

• Childline: 0800 1111 (free, confidential, for any UK child)
• NSPCC Helpline: 0808 800 5000 (for adults worried about a child)
• Samaritans: 116 123 (free, 24/7)
• Papyrus HOPELINE247: 0800 068 4141 (suicide prevention for under-35s)
• The Mix: 0808 808 4994 (under-25s)
• Shout: text SHOUT to 85258
• IWF Report Remove: reportremove.org.uk (for under-18s to remove their own images)
• CEOP Safety Centre: ceop.police.uk/safety-centre

Coming next in this series

9. Recognising warning signs of online harm
10. Reporting and getting help when something has gone wrong

Helpful video resources

Below are 3 videos from authoritative sources that complement this guide. Watch them at any time for additional perspective.