The 10 Most Dangerous Things Your Kids Could Be Doing Online
Many parents worry about screen time. But the real danger isn’t how long kids are online—it’s what the online world is doing to them.
Phones, iPads, computers, and gaming systems expose children to data harvesting, psychological manipulation, and real-world criminal threats. Big Tech platforms are designed to maximize engagement and profit, not child safety. Privacy protections are weak, oversight is limited, and parents are often left in the dark.
Here are the 10 most dangerous things your kids could be doing online right now, often without realizing it.
1. Sharing Personal Information Without Understanding the Risk
Apps, games, and social platforms collect location data, browsing habits, voice recordings, photos, and contact lists. Kids often tap “allow” without understanding what they’ve just agreed to.
That data can be:
Sold or shared with third parties
Used to build behavioral profiles
Exposed through data breaches
Big Tech profits from this data. Children pay the price.
2. Being Targeted by Online Bullies
Online bullying is constant, relentless, and inescapable. Unlike schoolyard bullying, it follows kids home—onto their phones, tablets, and gaming systems.
Online bullying can include:
Harassment in group chats or gaming voice channels
Public shaming or humiliation
Threats, impersonation, or doxxing
Platforms often fail to intervene quickly, leaving children emotionally exposed and parents unaware until serious harm occurs.
3. Talking to Strangers Through Games and Apps
Gaming platforms are social networks, whether parents realize it or not. Voice chat and private messaging allow direct communication with adults posing as peers.
Predators often exploit:
Roblox, Fortnite, Minecraft, Discord, and console chat
Fake profiles and shared interests
Gradual trust-building tactics
This is a common gateway to grooming.
4. Falling Victim to Sextortion
Sextortion is one of the fastest-growing crimes against minors.
It often begins with:
Friendly conversation
Requests for photos
Escalating threats for money or more images
Once a photo exists, control shifts to the predator. Fear and shame often keep kids silent.
5. Being Groomed for Human Trafficking
Human trafficking increasingly starts online, not on the street.
Traffickers:
Identify vulnerable children through social platforms
Offer attention, validation, or gifts
Slowly isolate them from trusted adults
Big Tech platforms are notoriously poor at detecting early grooming behaviors.
6. Developing Addictive and Risky Screen Habits
Endless scrolling, autoplay videos, and algorithm-driven feeds are engineered to keep kids hooked.
Over time, this can:
Reduce attention span
Increase anxiety and depression
Normalize harmful or extreme content
The danger isn’t just what kids see—it’s how their brains are being shaped.
7. Being Exposed to Explicit or Violent Content
Even with filters enabled, children are routinely exposed to sexual, violent, or disturbing material through ads, comments, and recommendations.
Algorithms prioritize engagement—not age appropriateness or emotional safety.
8. Oversharing Photos and Videos
Images posted by kids—or even by parents—can be:
Downloaded and reused without consent
Altered using AI tools
Circulated in inappropriate or criminal spaces
Once content is online, control is lost.
9. Using Platforms with Weak or Hidden Privacy Controls
Many apps default to public visibility and make privacy settings confusing or constantly changing.
Big Tech places the burden on parents—while designing systems that obscure real oversight.
10. Trusting Big Tech to Put Kids First
Perhaps the most dangerous belief is that major tech companies are protecting children by default.
They are not.
Their incentives favor:
Data collection
Maximum engagement
Minimal accountability
Child safety often comes second.
What Parents Can Do
Protecting kids online can feel overwhelming — especially when Big Tech often prioritizes engagement and data collection over privacy and safety. But there are groups and initiatives working to change that and make the digital world safer for children.
Support and Learn From Organizations That Are Actively Raising the Bar
One key group leading this effort is the Child Safe Tech Alliance (CSTA). This coalition brings together technology innovators, child-safety experts, families, and advocates with a shared mission: to protect children in the digital world by promoting, certifying, and advancing safe technology design. childsafetechalliance.org
CSTA focuses on:
Promoting “safety by design” so platforms and apps are built with children’s protection in mind, not as an afterthought. childsafetechalliance.org
Raising standards across the tech industry, setting benchmarks for privacy, age-appropriate experiences, and transparent data practices. childsafetechalliance.org
Uniting innovators and policymakers so safety isn’t siloed — technology creators and regulators work together to reduce exploitation and harm. childsafetechalliance.org
Being part of this alliance gives parents and caregivers resources as well as a voice in a broader movement that pushes companies to put children’s safety first rather than last. childsafetechalliance.org
Practical Steps You Can Take
While broader industry change is needed, here are actionable ways you can protect your children today:
Become informed about platform privacy settings and review them regularly.
Talk openly with your children about what they do online — interests, apps, friends, and experiences.
Use parental controls and monitoring tools to create healthy boundaries on phones, tablets, computers, and gaming systems.
Encourage safe habits, including not sharing personal information and never moving chats to unmonitored apps.
Real safety requires both education and structural change — and groups like the CSTA are helping push the tech world in the right direction.
