7 Predator Phrases and 3 Tips for Students to Stay Safe
Become a member or log in to view this course
Superintendents, Directors and Principals: Request a partnership on this page to unlock our resources for your whole community.
Become a member or log in to view this course
Superintendents, Directors and Principals: Request a partnership on this page to unlock our resources for your whole community.
This app is listed in the SmartSocial.com Green Zone.
This app is not safe for students to use unsupervised, but a Green Zone app can serve a positive purpose to help a student to navigate social media and someday build an online brand. Read more below to find out why this app is in the Green Zone.
This app is listed in the SmartSocial.com Gray Zone.
Gray Zone apps often contain lots of private & disappearing messages, and strangers can use this to chat with students. Parents should participate in these apps with students to keep them safe. This zone can be a great place for family time since many of these apps can be entertaining, and let your students express themselves. Read more below to find out why this app is in the Gray Zone.
This app is listed in the SmartSocial.com Red Zone.
Red Zone apps often have lots of anonymous features, adult content, and easy contact with strangers. Supervision is strongly suggested on each of these apps or move your kids to a safer zone. All apps require parental supervision, these apps more than others. Read more below to find out why this app is in the Red Zone or view our list of 100+ Apps to find a safer app with your student.
Join our weekly newsletter to learn about the 100+ app reviews at SmartSocial.com
This trend is categorized as a Dangerous Social Media Challenge.
Viral challenges encourage students to do dangerous things to garner likes, views, attention, and subscribers. These challenges can be found across several social networks and may encourage students to perform dangerous activities. SmartSocial.com keeps parents updated on these social media challenges before an incident may occur in your community.
Table of Contents
Being targeted by an online predator might not seem “scary” or “suspicious” at first. The stranger might make you feel comfortable and understood, especially if you already are upset about something happening in your life. But, as they build their “friendship” with you, they start convincing you to do things you wouldn’t normally do with anyone you know in person.
Watch our video on YouTube, or listen to our podcast to learn more about the 7 things predators say online to trick us. We’ll also share tips on how to stay safe online if you find yourself in an uncomfortable “friendship.”
7 things people say online to trick us
1. “Let’s move to another app or create another account and talk privately”
- For example, if you’re in an online game chat room, they ask for your Snapchat username so you can keep talking when the game is over
- They want to get us over to an app that our parents are not on or that parental tracking software doesn’t catch
- Snapchat and other anonymous apps that have “disappearing chats” are common so the conversations are less trackable and/or we let our guard down thinking they are going to just disappear
2. “You must be the best looking girl/boy in your school”
- Flattery is one of the most common ways predators connect with victims they want to target
- The better we feel about ourselves, the less of a risk they seem to be, even though they are still strangers
3. "Your friends and parents don’t understand you the way I do”
- They can often be very patient when listening to our problems or seem sympathetic when we feel like everyone else is against us or no one else understands what we’re going through or feeling
- They tell us what we want to hear vs. what is best for us to hear
4. “Don’t you trust me?”
- After listening to us and making us feel comfortable with them, they want us to trust them, even though we actually know very little (if anything real) about them
- It’s very hard to know if who you are talking to is actually who they say there are: an adult can easily say they are a boy or girl your age
5. “It’s just one photo, what’s the harm?” OR “I sent you my photo, it’s only fair you send me one too”
- The trick is that they build us up and very slowly ask for more
- Even if you never asked for a photo of them, they may share a photo or video with you hoping to guilt you into doing the same
- Every image you share with them, or they share with you is a way to desensitize you from protecting your privacy
6. “I’ll never share anything you send me with anyone else”
- Those “disappearing” message apps, or their promise to delete an email or message, make it seem like they can’t share or see it after they look at it
- Even the most popular apps say there are ways around screenshot notifications on disappearing messages
- We don’t know who or where images will be shared once we press send!
7. “You don’t want your friends/parents/teachers to see what you’ve already sent me”
- After building our confidence and trust, they can quickly turn to threats
- If they know we’re mad at our closest friends or parents (because we’ve vented to them about our problems already) or we think we’ll get in trouble for telling an adult what is happening, they’ll use it against us
Our #1 advice for everyone online
- NEVER send nude (or private) photos!
What predators commonly do with our photos
- Sell them to online bulletin boards for others to see and share
- Threaten to share them with the whole world
- Tell the sender they will notify the student’s school/parents with the images if they don’t get more images
- Bully the student into sending more revealing photos, videos, or to meet in person
- Turn and say terrible things that can really hurt our self-confidence they’ve worked to build
- And more....
What to do if someone threatens you online
- STOP communicating with them
- Then, tell a trusted adult what has been happening, no matter what the person online says they will do if you tell
- It’s hard to admit we were tricked, but the longer it goes on, the harder it is to admit it and the worse we feel
- Find a friend or family member you can talk with more to replace the void of no longer talking to someone you didn’t really know in the first place, but felt so comfortable with
Listen to MomTalk about predators online
Conclusion
Using social media to keep in touch with close friends we know in person or family members can be a great way to connect with people we trust. Strangers online are waiting for us to feel vulnerable so they can build our trust and eventually convince us to do things we wouldn’t do. Being knowledgeable about what they might say can help you stay safe online AND help you keep your friends safe when they tell you about their new “friend” online.
Logged in and still not seeing content? This course may not be part of your membership plan. Click here to join.
Share Your Thoughts With Our Team
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *