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Child Abuse Prevention Month: Online Safety and Exploitation Prevention Resources

By April Ferguson LCSW-C Senior Practice Associate Children and Adolescents

April 2026

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) acknowledges the role social workers play in preventing child maltreatment. This month NASW focuses on preventing online harm to children. Online harms include cyber bullying, exploitation, child sex abuse materials (CSAM), harmful artificial intelligence (AI) generated content and predatory adults that target children.

  • Cyber Bullying: Cyberbullying includes online acts that threaten, humiliate and/or taunt children and youth. Multiple youth may be involved in harassment, and the harassment may be continuous.
  • Exploitation: Child exploitation is the victimization of children and online exploitation incorporates the use of technology to facilitate harm such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, and/or enticement to criminal or self-harming behaviors.Exploiters may entice youth to send explicit photos and upon receipt attempt to extort youth for money under threat of exposure.
  • Child Sex Abuse Materials: CSAM includes any sexual images and or videos real or fake of children. These images are harmful and there are regulations to prohibit owning, creating and/or distributing this content.
  • Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI): GAI can be used for appropriate purposes such as education and learning, but this tool can also be used to harm children. GAI has been used in exploitation, cyberbullying, and the creation of sexual content of minors.
  • Predatory Adults: Children online are at risk of interacting with unsafe adults. Online predators pose a risk for sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking. Predators operate via internet connected devices such as phones and tablets and these individuals use grooming to establish trust with children. There are also incidents where children are harmed online by other youth or peers.

A list and the definition of other forms of online harm and abuse are available from the United States Department of Homeland Security Know2Protect public awareness campaign.

Online harm and abuse is pervasive, has serious consequences for youth and has been linked to youth suicide, sexual abuses and trauma. According to the National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction 2023 report, the number of children harmed by CSAM has more than doubled from 2009 to 2022 and from 2016 to 2021 the number of CyberTips linked to child exploitation increased from around 83,000 reports to over 300,000 reports. Cyberbullying is also common with more than half of youth reporting that they were bullied or harassed online in 2022.

Policy makers are recognizing the need to respond to online harm and legislative efforts at national and state levels aim to improve internet safety for children. Various policies and regulations have proposed stronger parental controls, age verifications, cell phone bans in schools, tech company liability, less addictive platforms/algorithms and law enforcement responses to crime against children. To track national and state level policy changes Children and Screens provides a ‘Policy Update” that highlights efforts that address the digital landscape impacting children and youth.

This Child Abuse Prevention Month is a good time for social workers to identify helpful resources and professional development training opportunities that enhance their prevention and response skills. Children should be able to live free from all forms of abuse and maltreatment and a few resources to help social workers support online safety and prevent online abuse are below.

Resources:

  • Children and Screens provide tips sheets, podcasts, and webinars regarding youth and technology. This includes resources on cyberbullying, grooming, child sexualization and online safety.
  • The Online Child Exploitation Prevention Initiative (OCEPI) created Ten Best Practices for Prevention Programs as a resource for helping professionals prevent exploitation. The ten strategies are practical prevention steps for social workers in various settings.
  • Take It Down is an effort from The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) to reduce the harm of nude images of youth online. This service assists with the removal of nude content or assists to stop the sharing of nude content online. This service is accessible via the web, and individuals can submit anonymous requests. NCMEC also manages the CyberTipline which accepts reports of child sexual exploitation. Reports can be submitted in minutes and providing contact information is optional.

Professional Development Training:

  • NASW CEU institute has a wide variety of topics related to social work practice and trainings related to online safety are available.
  • The Association of Professionals Solving the Abuse of Children (APSAC) has many resources to support the prevention of child maltreatment including a monthly Prevention Series and an 8-Week Course on Technology Solutions and Challenges in Child Maltreatment that is open to members and non-members.

Related Organizations

Association of Professionals Solving the Abuse of Children (APSAC)
https://apsac.org/

Children and Screens
https://www.childrenandscreens.org/

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
https://www.missingkids.org/home

National Children's Advocacy Center
https://www.nationalcac.org/

Online Child Exploitation Prevention Initiative
OCEPI - ICAC