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What is Sextortion and Why Are Kids Getting Caught Up in This?

ByMikeM Reading Time: 1 minute

Thorn, who makes technology to protect kids against sexual exploitation has created an interesting educational piece. It’s a hypothetical story of sextortion.

It’s a story of a 12-year-old boy, befriended on Minecraft by what he thinks is a slightly older girl, who spends a lot of time online playing games with him, chatting, and eventually getting him to send her intimate photos of himself.

We know where the story goes from there, but if you have kids who spend any time online, you may want to give it a read and dig deeper into some of the linked resources they’ve created for parents. There’s some good information about what to look for and how to teach kids to be more aware.

Don’t just assume this won’t happen to your kid.

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