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The internet opens an extraordinary world for children and teenagers — access to learning, creativity, friendships, and entertainment that no previous generation has ever had. But alongside those opportunities come real, serious dangers: predators, scammers, cyberbullies, and privacy threats that many kids aren’t equipped to recognize or handle alone. These 10 practical tips help children and teens build safe online habits from the very start — habits that will protect them for life.

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10 Online Safety Tips for Kids and Teens

1. Never Share Personal Information with Strangers Online Your full name, home address, school name, phone number, and daily routine are off-limits when talking to anyone you haven’t met in real life. Predators and scammers piece together seemingly harmless details to build a profile — even sharing your city and school together gives away too much. 2. Use Strong, Unique Passwords — and Never Share Them with Friends Every account needs a different password that mixes letters, numbers, and symbols. Sharing passwords with friends — even best friends — is never safe. Friendships change, and a shared password can lead to account takeovers, bullying, or embarrassing posts you didn’t make. 3. Think Before You Post — What Goes Online Stays Online Screenshots are permanent. Before posting a photo, comment, or video, ask yourself: “Would I be comfortable if my teacher, my grandparents, or a future employer saw this?” If the answer is no, don’t post it. Deleted content can still be screenshot and shared. 4. Recognize Online Grooming Adults who are “extra friendly” online without an obvious reason, who want to keep your conversations private from your parents, who give unexpected gifts or compliments, or who ask for photos are displaying warning signs of grooming. If any adult online makes you feel uncomfortable or asks you to keep secrets, tell a trusted adult immediately — no matter what the person online has told you.
Online predators often pose as teenagers. If someone you met online wants to meet in person, tell a parent or guardian right away. Never arrange an in-person meeting with someone you only know online without a parent present.
5. Don’t Click Links from People You Don’t Know in Real Life Links in messages, DMs, emails, and game chats can download malware, steal your login credentials, or take you to scam websites. If you don’t know the person in real life — not just online — don’t click it. Even if the message looks like it came from a friend, their account may have been hacked. 6. Set All Social Profiles to Private Default social media settings are often public — meaning anyone in the world can see your posts, photos, location tags, and friends list. Go into every platform’s settings and switch your profile to private so only people you approve can follow you. 7. Be Careful in Online Gaming Online games are a favorite hunting ground for scammers and predators because children let their guard down in a fun environment. Never share your real name, school, age, or location in game chats or voice calls. Be skeptical of players who are unusually friendly and quickly try to move the conversation to private messages or another platform.
Use a gaming username that reveals nothing personal — no birthdays, no real names, no location clues. “XDragonSlayer22” is safer than “JakeBoston2012.”
8. Watch Out for Free Prize and Gift Scams “Congratulations! You’ve won a $500 gift card!” — if you didn’t enter a contest, you didn’t win one. Free prize pop-ups, giveaway DMs, and “exclusive offer” links are almost always scams designed to steal your personal information or install malware. If it sounds too good to be true, it is. 9. Tell a Trusted Adult If Something Online Makes You Uncomfortable If something you see online upsets you, scares you, or makes you feel confused — tell an adult you trust. You are never in trouble for reporting something uncomfortable. The person who makes you feel that way is the problem, not you. Many children stay silent out of embarrassment or fear — but speaking up is always the right move. 10. Use McAfee Parental Controls and Scam Protection for an Extra Safety Layer Technology can back up good habits. McAfee’s tools are designed to catch threats that even careful kids can miss.

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How McAfee Protects Kids

Good digital habits are the foundation — but even the most careful child can encounter threats that no amount of awareness will fully prevent. McAfee provides an additional layer of automated protection. McAfee Safe Family gives parents powerful parental controls including screen time scheduling, app blocking, website filtering, location tracking, and activity reports — all managed from a parent smartphone app, across every device your child uses. McAfee Scam Detector is especially important for teenagers who are online more independently. It monitors text messages, emails, and links in real time — flagging suspicious content before your teen clicks on a phishing link or falls for a social media scam. As AI makes scam messages more convincing and harder to spot, this automated protection matters more than ever. McAfee WebAdvisor warns kids when they’re about to visit a dangerous or suspicious website — displaying a warning before the page even loads, so harmful sites are blocked before any damage is done.
McAfee family plans cover all family members under one subscription. That means your children’s devices, your devices, and your partner’s devices are all protected — without paying separately for each person.
The internet doesn’t have to be a frightening place for families — but staying safe there requires both smart habits and the right tools. Help your kids build both, starting today. Activate your McAfee family plan at mcafee.com/activate and give your whole family the protection they need online.