| Dear John,
As more and more of our children’s lives go virtual, internet safety has become an essential part of their education. Through the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) CyberTipline, we see every day how online predators target children online for exploitation.
That’s why we created the NetSmartz “Into the Cloud” animated online safety education series to teach children at a young age how to keep themselves safer from online predators.
Today, we’re excited to announce the release of Season 2 of “Into the Cloud.” If you are a teacher, a parent, a grandparent, a foster parent, or work with children in any capacity, make sure to watch Seasons 1 and 2 at NetSmartzKids.org/videos today!
John, this is important. If you are a parent of young children, take the opportunity to share these resources with your kids. If you are not a parent, or your children are older, please forward this email to someone you know.
Season 2 of “Into the Cloud” takes a closer look at growing safety concerns surrounding children on livestreaming platforms and sextortion. Sextortion is a type of online exploitation in which non-physical forms of coercion are used, such as blackmail, to acquire sexual content from a child, engage in sex with a child, or obtain money from a child. NCMEC’s CyberTipline has received reports of sextortion involving children as young as 8 years old. We chose to address this topic for three reasons: Sextortion of minors is a trend that shows no signs of slowing. Sextortion happens on all platforms; from social media to online gaming. Sextortion happens to children of all ages and genders. The videos are all age-appropriate and accessible for elementary-aged children.
We have also created episode guides to help adults learn more about the safety issues addressed in each episode and how to talk to both younger and older children about important safety topics.
Since 1998, NCMEC has operated the CyberTipline, a place where the public and electronic service providers can report suspected online and offline child sexual exploitation. The millions of reports made each year uniquely situate NCMEC to identify trends and create prevention resources to address the evolving needs of kids and teens online.
NetSmartz is NCMEC's online safety education program. It provides age-appropriate videos and activities to help teach children be safer online with the goal of helping children to become more aware of potential online risks and empowering them to help prevent victimization by making safer choices on- and offline.
We are pleased to share these important resources with you.
Sincerely,
Your Friends at The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
www.missingkids.org
P.S. Setting up a monthly gift to NCMEC is the most powerful way to help protect children by supporting the creation of educational materials like these. Commit to a monthly gift today and become a hero that children can depend on. | 