Mobile Dangers

The development of technologies including portable music devices, gaming devices, mobile phones and PDAs has increased the benefits and the threats that children face. These threats include:

• Easy access to pornography, violent content and other inappropriate sites
• Cyberbullying and harassment
• Contact by a sexual predator
• Picture and video uploads (youth use camera and video functions on their cell phones to take and post inappropriate and sexual content)
• Direct access to social networking sites
• Texting while driving/distracted driving
• Addictions
• Sexting
• "Sextortion" - the act of threatening to share nude or explicit images. See video here (NCMEC interactive video)
• Difficulty for parents to monitor content and contacts accessed
• Phone scams, which are designed to steal personal details or money, often via text. You might not know you or your children have been scammed, so it’s important to check invoices or online statements carefully for any unusual charges