Tips – Seneca County Division of Human Services

Two teens on the beach

Make sure your child has your number memorized.
Teach your child to never use his/her full name when creating accounts.
Teens will collect followers and even pay them to increase their popularity among peers. Teach your child to accept “friend request” or “follow” people they know personally.
Make sure your child understands that what they post on the internet lasts forever.
Make sure your child knows never to post a naked or racy photo on snapchat. Photos displayed through FaceTime can be recorded and screenshots can be taken.
Monitor your child’s accounts by creating your own account for each type of social media your child has. If you child has Facebook, it’s recommended that you be their “friend” so you can see what they are posting and who their “friends” are.
Know your child’s passwords for all of their devices.
Remind your child to never allow location services/functions inside games, apps or social media.
Remind your child to never post something something that indicates trouble at home or with a friend, “I hate my parent”, “Just ran away”, “Home alone.” These types of messages pimps are looking for so they can become the person who “helps”.
Turn on the “find my friends” location services and be sure to follow your child’s location at all times.
Check the applications on your child’s phone and make sure they are not utilizing a location “spoofer” program to trick you into thinking that are at one location when they are actually in another.