Online grooming facts & advice

What’s inside the hub

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Learn about online grooming

Learn more about what online grooming is.

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Protect your child from online grooming

Tips and tools to help recognise when there’s risk and take action.

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Dealing with online grooming

Tips on supporting and taking action to report online grooming.

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Online grooming resources

See our list of useful resources for further support.

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What is county lines?

Learn how to protect vulnerable children from exploitation.

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Look At Me research

Highlighting the digital relationships today for young people.

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Online grooming – minimising risks

As children continue to find new ways to connect with each other on a range of devices and platforms, it is increasingly important to help them make smarter and safer choices about who they talk to and what they share online, especially with an increase of groomers online.
To help you give them the tools to be more critical about how they interact with others online, we’ve created a hub of expert advice to support you on this issue.

Online child grooming

Grooming usually refers to child sexual abuse. However, groomers also target children for purposes such as radicalisation, drug trafficking (county lines) and financial gain.

How perpetrators groom children

Groomers first befriend a child. Online, this could be someone they have never met. A groomer might pretend they’re the same age as your child; because there is a screen between them, your child can’t know who the other person is for sure.

Alternatively, a groomer may tell the truth about who they are, which some young people may see as a benefit. For example, a child without an older role model might feel a connection to an older person who treats them well.

Once a groomer gains a child’s trust, they can manipulate them to do what they want. Children and young people may have trouble saying no to someone who has built a relationship with them, making it easy for online grooming to happen. Lear more about online grooming.

Online grooming guide

What parents need to know

Signs of sexual abuse and online grooming

If someone targets your child online for sexual purposes, the victim may not recognise it as abuse. The groomer might have made them feel special or could be an older child. Unfortunately, a child abused in this way may not seek help right away, so it’s important to look out for the signs of sexual abuse to take action. Signs could include:

• Changes in behaviour
• Knowledge of adult issuesinappropriate for their age
• Starting to bed wet
• Avoidance of social situations
• Alcohol or drug abuse
• Unexplained school absences

It is important to look out for other changes that might be signs of other types of online grooming as well. These might include:

• Strange followers, friends or interactions online
• Multiple accounts on apps and platforms
• Unexplained devices in their possession

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