Online Safety for Parents: 3 New Risks to Discuss With Your Teen

Online safety for parents is becoming harder to navigate because the technology young people are using keeps changing.

At a recent Keeping Your Kids Safe Online parent presentation at Presbyterian Ladies' College Perth, I spoke with parents about three newer risks that I think are worth discussing with teenagers at home.

These aren't necessarily the things parents have been talking about for years.

They are newer technologies and online behaviours that many adults may not have encountered themselves, but that young people may come across.

The goal isn't to scare kids away from technology.

It's to have regular, open conversations so they can recognise risks, question what they encounter and make more informed decisions online.

Here are three conversations I encourage parents to have with their teenagers.

1. New online platforms and the impact on self-esteem

New platforms are continuing to appear that connect young people with strangers online.

One example I discussed with parents was Omoggle, a platform where users can be matched with strangers through video chat. The platform has attracted attention because of features that assess and compare participants' appearance.

For teenagers who are already navigating body image, identity and self-esteem, this kind of environment raises some obvious concerns.

It is another example of technology turning something personal into something that can be rated, compared and judged.

Parents don't necessarily need to know every new platform their teenager might encounter.

What is more useful is helping them develop the habit of asking:

How do I know this website is safe?

Who am I actually being connected with?

What information am I giving away?

How could this affect the way I feel about myself?

These are broader online safety skills that can be applied to many platforms, including ones that haven't even been created yet.

Questions to ask your teenager

Rather than waiting until something goes wrong, try bringing the conversation up casually:

• Have you heard of platforms where you chat with random people online?

• How would you work out whether a website like that was safe?

• What could happen if a platform encouraged people to compare or judge each other?

• What would you do if you came across something that made you uncomfortable?

The important part is keeping the conversation open rather than turning it into an interrogation.

2. AI chatbots and teenagers

Another conversation parents need to have is about how young people are using AI chatbots.

AI isn't just being used for homework, brainstorming or finding information.

Some young people are also turning to chatbots when they are upset, lonely or looking for advice.

This is an area where parents need to understand the difference between an AI chatbot being able to sound supportive and actually being able to provide appropriate professional support.

Recent research from Common Sense Media and Stanford's Brainstorm Lab found significant safety problems when major AI chatbots were tested for mental health support for teenagers. The researchers found that chatbots could miss important warning signs and that their conversational, seemingly empathetic style could create a false sense of trust.

That matters because a teenager may think:

"It listens to me."

"It doesn't judge me."

"It always responds."

But an AI chatbot isn't a replacement for a trusted adult, counsellor, psychologist or other appropriate support.

This doesn't mean parents should simply tell their teenager, "Don't use AI."

It means they need to talk about what AI is appropriate for and what it isn't.

Questions to ask your teenager

You could ask:

• Have you heard about people using AI when they are struggling with something?

• What do you think about getting advice from an AI chatbot?

• What do you think the risks could be?

• Who would you talk to instead if something was really bothering you?

• How would you know whether something an AI told you was actually good advice?

These conversations help teenagers think critically about the technology rather than automatically trusting it because it sounds confident or understanding.

3. Smart glasses and privacy

The third conversation is about something that can look much more ordinary: smart glasses.

Camera-enabled glasses can look like regular glasses while also being capable of capturing what the wearer sees.

That creates a new privacy and consent issue.

Young people already understand that what they do online can potentially be recorded, screenshotted, uploaded and shared.

But wearable cameras add another layer.

Someone could potentially be recording while appearing to simply be wearing a normal pair of glasses.

That means teenagers need to think about privacy in a slightly different way.

Would you know if someone was recording you?

Would you want them to tell you first?

Would you be comfortable being recorded without knowing?

These are important conversations because technology can change faster than our expectations around privacy.

Schools also need to consider whether their existing policies adequately address wearable cameras and other emerging technologies.

Online safety for teenagers needs to keep evolving

One of the biggest challenges for parents is simply keeping up.

There will always be another platform, another feature or another piece of technology that parents haven't encountered before.

Trying to memorise every app and every new risk isn't a realistic approach to online safety.

Instead, we need to give young people the skills to assess new technology for themselves.

That means regularly talking about:

• privacy and personal information

• consent and recording

• who they are communicating with

• how online content can affect their wellbeing

• whether information or advice can be trusted

• what to do when something feels wrong

• who they can go to for help

These conversations don't need to be one big lecture.

In fact, regular smaller conversations are often much more useful.

Ask what your teenager has seen.

Ask what they think.

Ask how they would respond.

And, importantly, make sure they know they can come to you when something goes wrong without immediately being worried that their device will be taken away.

Parents don't need to know everything about technology

I often hear from parents who feel like they are constantly trying to catch up.

That is understandable.

Technology is changing quickly, and it can feel impossible to know every platform, feature and emerging risk.

But parents don't need to become technology experts to have useful conversations with their kids.

You can start with curiosity.

"Have you heard of this?"

"What do you think about it?"

"Would you feel comfortable using it?"

"What do you think could go wrong?"

"Who could you talk to if something happened?"

Those questions help young people practise the judgement they will need when they encounter something new.

Technology changes. The conversation needs to continue.

There will always be a new platform, new AI tool or new device that creates another online safety question.

We can't predict all of them.

What we can do is make sure young people have the critical thinking, privacy awareness and confidence to navigate them.

That starts with regular conversations at home and at school.

Online safety isn't a one-off conversation. It needs to keep evolving alongside the technology young people are using.

Helping parents have better online safety conversations

I deliver Keeping Your Kids Safe Online parent presentations that help parents understand emerging technology risks and have more practical conversations with their children about online safety, AI and digital wellbeing.

The aim isn't to give parents a list of everything they need to ban.

It's to give them useful information and conversation starters so they can help their kids make safer, more informed decisions online.