Article
How to stay safer
House rules you can say out loud. They work across apps: who may message them, what a stranger does not get, and what to do if it has already gone wrong.
You can say these out loud. They are rules for your child and jobs for you. They are here, rather than inside one guide, because the same rules cover the next app they ask for.
Private messages are for people they have actually met. A friend of a friend from a game is still a stranger until you know otherwise. This is the rule that gets tested on Discord, Roblox, and Minecraft.
Strangers do not get a real name, a school, a photo, an address, or the daily routine. Location on Snapchat, Pokémon GO, and Life360 is a family decision. It is not a stranger's.
Leaving is allowed. Mute, block, and putting the phone down are the success, not a failure of manners. They do not owe a reply. Say that before anyone is unkind, or they will think staying in the chat is the polite option.
Do not follow a stranger into a second app. If it starts in a game and they want Snapchat or WhatsApp, that is the moment to tell you, not the moment to install it.
Disappearing messages and photos that can be seen only once are a reason to tell you. For a younger child, leave those features off. Snapchat and Instagram are where this matters most.
You hold the app-store password when a new app should be a shared decision. You do not put your card details on their device. That rule is in No card on their device.
Hear the first voice chats. Public rooms and random video are off for a younger child. A private world with people you know, as in Minecraft, is a different thing from a public server. Omegle, OmeTV, and the other random-video apps stay off the device.
If an adult has asked for photos, money, or a meeting, you stop. They can tell you without losing the relationship. You do not message the other person. You do not delete the account if the police may need to see it. Use When to get help and the help page.
Calmer is not the same as safe, but some choices have fewer of these doors. Messenger Kids, YouTube Kids, and a game you pay for once, such as Monument Valley, are in that group. You still ask who they are talking to.
The patterns these rules are aimed at are written up in What predatory contact looks like, with the app guides beside each one.
You can say: "People we know can message you. A stranger does not get your name, your school, or your pictures. If they want another app, or they will not take no, you leave and you tell me. Telling me is the right move."
Examples from the guides
Each link is a parent briefing for that app. The briefings say what to notice and what to do. They do not explain how the contact is carried out.
