Online grooming
facts & advice

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grooming is when someone seeks to build
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an emotional connection with a child to
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gain their trust for sexual purposes it
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happens both online and face-to-face as
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children may often meet people online
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through social media or gaming who may
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not be who they say they are it's
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important to discuss the risks with them
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groomers use fake profiles on social
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networks to connect with children and
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pretend to have similar interests use
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gifts and compliments to build a
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relationship with them once groomers
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have gained a child's trust the
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conversation steers towards their sexual
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experiences and they may encourage or
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blackmail children to send sexual images
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or videos of themselves perform sexual
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acts through live streaming or arrange
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to meet groomers are not always
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strangers and may be someone they have
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already met socially at times children
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may not be aware that they are being
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groomed as they believe they're in a
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relationship with the person grooming
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can be tricky subject to talk about with
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your children but it is important that
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you start a conversation let them know
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where to get help if they are concerned
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and speak to you or a trusted adult for
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support
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find out what sites they go on where
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they meet their online friends how they
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communicate and what information they
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share make sure they know that having
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thousands of online friends isn't always
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safe explain how easy it is to pretend
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to be someone else online and why an
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adult may wish to approach them to
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prevent grooming from happening ensure
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your child is well-informed uses privacy
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settings on social networks and knows
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that they can talk to you if they feel
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unsafe or worried private details which
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could identify them in the real world
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name age gender phone number home
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address school name and photographs
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should only ever be shared with people
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they know tell your child to be cautious
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with what they share online remind them
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that people they have met online might
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feel like friends but they may not be
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who they say they are tell them they
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must never arrange to meet someone they
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only knew online without a parent
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present tell them that if something
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makes them worried or uncomfortable
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online they must tell an adult they
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trust