Online Safety, Body Boundaries, and Safe Adults
The start of a new school year brings new teachers, new classmates, new routines, and new opportunities for independence. Children may begin riding the bus, participating in after-school activities, spending more time with friends, or bringing home a school-issued device for homework and learning.
With so many changes happening at once, back-to-school season is a natural opportunity for parents and caregivers to start- or revisit- important conversations about safety.
These conversations do not need to happen all at once. In fact, some of the most effective safety conversations happen in small, everyday moments. Talking regularly about online safety, personal boundaries, and safe adults helps children build the skills and confidence to recognize when something is not right, know what to do, and feel comfortable coming to you for help.
School-Issued Devices: Know the Technology and Set Expectations at Home
For many students, technology is a regular part of the school day. Children may use Chromebooks, laptops, tablets, or school accounts in the classroom—and those same devices often come home for homework.
Schools typically have safeguards in place. At the start of the year, take time to understand how your child’s school-issued technology works and what protections follow it home.
Parents and caregivers can:
- Review the school’s acceptable-use and technology policies.
- Ask what filtering, monitoring, or other safety features are used on school-issued devices.
- Find out whether those protections remain active when the device is connected to a home or public Wi-Fi network.
- Know which apps, websites, learning platforms, and communication tools your child is expected to use.
- Talk about keeping school usernames and passwords private—even from friends.
- Remind children not to share personal information such as their full name, location, address, phone number, or passwords online.
- Establish expectations for where and when school devices can be used at home.
- Encourage children to tell you or another safe adult if they encounter inappropriate content, receive an uncomfortable message, or experience something online that does not feel right.
Technology safeguards are an important layer of protection, but no filter or monitoring system can prevent every potential risk. Staying involved in your child’s digital life and keeping communication open gives them another important layer of protection.
Try tonight:
“Tell me about the computer or tablet you use at school. What do you use it for? What would you do if something popped up or someone sent you something that made you uncomfortable?”
The goal isn’t to quiz your child on the “right” answer. It is to make conversations about their online experiences feel normal so they know they can come to you when they need help.
Boundaries & Using Your Voice at School
Children navigate boundaries throughout the school day—on the bus, in the classroom, at recess and lunch, in sports and extracurriculars, and with friends.
Before a situation happens, talk with your child about what personal boundaries look and feel like at school. Help them understand they’re allowed to have boundaries with other children and adults, and that they can tell someone when an interaction feels uncomfortable, confusing, or unsafe.
Parents and caregivers can:
- Talk about personal space and the right to say “no” or “stop” when they don’t want to be touched.
- Discuss situations that may come up during play, sports, on the bus, or with friends and classmates.
- Reinforce that they should also listen to and respect others’ boundaries.
- Let them know they can walk away from an uncomfortable situation when possible.
- Teach them to use their voice to tell someone when something doesn’t feel right.
- Remind them that if someone asks them to keep an unsafe or uncomfortable secret, they should tell a safe adult.
- Make sure they know they can always tell you what happened—even if they’re worried about getting themselves or someone else in trouble.
Safety conversations should empower children, not make them feel responsible for preventing harm. Adults are responsible for keeping children safe. Our goal is to give kids language, options, and trusted people to turn to when they need help.
Try tonight:
“If someone at school did something that made you feel uncomfortable or asked you to keep something secret that worried you, what could you do?”
Listen to your child’s answer first. Then talk through their options together: using their voice, moving away when possible, finding a safe adult, and telling you what happened.
Identify Safe Adults Before They’re Needed
Telling children to “find an adult” or “tell someone” sounds simple to us, but in a stressful moment, children may not know who that person should be.
Instead, help your child identify safe adults before they need them.
At the start of the school year, ask your child to name two or three adults at school they’d feel comfortable going to for help—a teacher, counselor, nurse, coach, administrator, bus driver, or other trusted staff member.
Parents and caregivers can help children:
- Name two or three specific safe adults at school.
- Practice what they could say, such as, “Something happened, and I need to talk to you.”
- Identify where to go for help, like the front office, counselor’s or nurse’s office, or a familiar classroom.
- Understand that asking for help is never something to be embarrassed about.
- Know that speaking up about something unsafe is different from “tattling.”
- Keep telling safe adults until someone listens and helps.
- Revisit their safe-adult plan when teachers, schedules, or routines change.
Having multiple safe adults matters because the first person a child looks for may not always be available. What matters most is that children know they have options and don’t have to handle an unsafe situation alone.
Try tonight:
“If something happened at school tomorrow and you needed help, who are three adults you could go to?”
If your child cannot name anyone yet, that’s okay. Use it as an opportunity to identify those people together as they become more familiar with their new teachers and school community.
Bottom Line
The beginning of a new school year gives families countless opportunities to talk about safety. You do not need to cover everything in one big conversation- and you do not need to have every answer!
Start with the situations your child is likely to encounter this school year. Talk about the technology they will use, the boundaries they can set and respect, and the adults they can turn to when they need help.
Then keep talking.
When safety conversations become a regular part of everyday life, children learn that they can ask questions, tell you when something feels wrong, and come to you when they need support.
Talk Early. Talk Often. Protect Our Kids.
