Before Anyone Tries to Blackmail Your Child Online

Tell your child now what to do if anyone threatens to share a nude picture of them, and that they won’t be in trouble for telling you.

A two-minute read, three things to try, for ages 11 to 18.

Where to start

Tell your child now: don’t pay, stop replying and block, keep the messages, tell an adult.
Say: “Whatever you sent, it isn’t your fault, and you won’t be in trouble with me.”
Never view, copy or save the image yourself, and report it to the police that day.
Online blackmail is a form of child sexual abuse. If your child tells you that someone is hurting them, stay calm, thank them for telling you, don’t promise to keep it secret, and act that day. If the person hurting your child lives in your home or your child’s other home, go straight to children’s social care or the police. Never view, copy, forward or save the picture, or ask your child to send it to you; a screenshot is a copy. Report it that day to specialist police officers. CEOP (the police’s online child protection command). Report at https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/. Your child can report a sexual picture of themselves to have it taken down. Report Remove (from Childline and the IWF). Online at https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/online-mobile-safety/report-remove/. A national child protection helpline will talk it through with you. NSPCC, 0808 800 5000. Email help@nspcc.org.uk. Mon-Fri 10am-4pm by phone; email 11am-4pm, seven days a week. An email sent when the service is closed is not received. If the NSPCC service is closed and the concern cannot wait, call the police on 101. You can also contact the child’s local out-of-hours children’s social care, social work or social services team. If a child is in immediate danger, call 999. Help is free.
If your child has hurt themselves, or talks about not wanting to be alive, stay calm, thank them if they have told you, don’t promise to keep it secret, and act that day: help them ask the surgery for an urgent appointment, and if it is closed, use the crisis line. England, Scotland and Wales: call 111 and choose the mental-health option. Northern Ireland: call Lifeline on 0808 808 8000. Help is free, confidential and available at any hour. Whoever answers may share information to arrange care or keep someone safe.
If your child says they are going to harm themselves now, or has gone to meet the blackmailer, or you cannot reach your child and do not know where they are, do not wait. Call 999. Help is free and available at any hour.

The rest of the tip, and why it works, is in the library.

Sources

CEOP Education (National Crime Agency), Online blackmail; National Crime Agency, Financially motivated sexual extortion (sextortion); Internet Watch Foundation, Sexually coerced extortion, Annual Data and Insights Report 2025; UK Council for Internet Safety and Department for Education, Sharing nudes and semi-nudes: advice for education settings working with children and young people (updated 2024); Childline, Report Remove

It goes with

Your Child’s Online World. For parents who have seen something on their child’s phone that they can’t unsee.
The Conversations Parents Avoid. For parents who need to tell their child something hard and don’t know how to start.

The first chapter you open here is free to read in full.

Free on this subject

Online safety. What to do first, what helps, and who else can help. Free to read and to print.
Safeguarding. What to do first, what helps, and who else can help. Free to read and to print.

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If you need help right now

If you or your child is in immediate danger: 999 · Go to your nearest A&E · 24/7.
If either you or your child is in a mental health crisis: NHS 111 · England, Scotland and Wales: call 111 and choose the mental-health option. Northern Ireland: call Lifeline on 0808 808 8000 · 24/7.
If your child is under 19 and needs to talk to someone themselves: Childline · 0800 1111 · 24/7 · www.childline.org.uk.
If you are worried that a child is being harmed or is at risk: NSPCC Helpline · 0808 800 5000 · Mon-Fri 10am-4pm by phone; email 11am-4pm, seven days a week. An email sent when the service is closed is not received. · email help@nspcc.org.uk · www.nspcc.org.uk/about-us/our-services/nspcc-helpline · If the NSPCC service is closed and the concern cannot wait, call the police on 101. You can also contact the child’s local out-of-hours children’s social care, social work or social services team. If a child is in immediate danger, call 999.
If you would prefer to text rather than speak: Shout · Text SHOUT to 85258 · 24/7 · giveusashout.org.
If you or someone you are worried about needs someone to talk to: Samaritans · 116 123 · 24/7 · www.samaritans.org.

If you need help right now

Published by Kensington Square Therapy. Company No. 16707111. Written by therapists registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS). This page is not therapy, and not a substitute for professional support. The full library is at theparentbook.com.