Office of the
Illinois Attorney General
Kwame Raoul

Chicago – In recognition of Safer Internet Day on Feb. 11, Attorney General Kwame Raoul today encouraged families, educators and other professionals working with children to plan online safety education programs and share best practices for developing effective programs.

“Safer Internet Day is an opportunity for parents, educators and caregivers to help children and teens be more aware of their online activity and develop responsible online habits. On Safer Internet Day and every day, families and educators should teach and empower children to use technology responsibly, respectfully, critically and creatively. My office has developed best practices that can help when developing effective education programs,” Raoul said. “I am committed to protecting children from online predators and am proud of the Illinois Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force’s work to protect children and provide online safety education.” 

When developing an online safety education program, Raoul recommends families and educators consider these best practices: 

• Follow a victim-centered approach. Encouraging victims to seek support should be a central goal of all prevention education. Victims are less likely to reach out for support when they feel blamed or shamed. Messaging should indicate that the responsibility for victimization lies with the perpetrator, not the victim.
• Assess the effectiveness of prevention programs and adjust when needed. Mechanisms to obtain feedback on presentations and presenters should be put in place to ensure effective and consistent messaging. This may include evaluations from a host agency, supervisor or colleague observations, and feedback from presenters.
• Minimize or eliminate fear-based messages. Learning about worst-case outcomes seldom changes youth behavior, because they typically believe it won’t happen to them. Instead, share realistic, age-appropriate examples to help youth identify risks.
• Discuss online risks accurately. Discuss online risks and statistics accurately, and ensure examples are developmentally appropriate and relevant to the audience. Focus on social and emotional consequences and frequently update presentations with current data or popular apps, games and websites.
• Stay focused on behavioral goals. Focus on what to do, who to talk with and how to get help if something scary or harmful happens online. Prepare youth for what can happen, what to do if they experience something scary or harmful, how to report and what to expect when reporting.
• Encourage a multipronged approach to prevention. Collaborating with stakeholders reinforces a message and increases its effectiveness.
• Work and plan collaboratively with a host school or agency to provide internet safety training for staff. Know the community and what will incentivize attendance. Prepare a host agency for the presentation with resources and prevention information. Provide guidance about the likelihood of disclosures, and ensure professional staff have a plan for responding to and reporting disclosures.
• Include skill-building information about responding to harmful online behavior. Presentations should include practical skills that will help children identify and respond to harmful and manipulative behaviors.
• Provide internet safety education to parents. A whole-family approach to internet safety includes presentations for parents and youth together. Hearing the same message inspires healthy conversations.
• Offer additional resources. This can include materials that allow for a deeper dive into the skill-building components of internet safety or that address related topics, such as healthy relationships, bullying and intimate partner violence prevention. 

For more information about planning educational programs, Raoul encourages adults and educators to visit the Attorney General’s website. 

Raoul’s office, with a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, runs the Illinois Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force that investigates child exploitation crimes and trains law enforcement agencies. The task force receives CyberTips, or online reports of child sexual abuse material, from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Over the last several years, CyberTipline reports have steadily increased. In 2024, reports to the ICAC increased by 11% over 2023.

Illinois’ ICAC Task Force is one of 61 ICAC task forces throughout the country and is comprised of a network of more than 200 local, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies. Since 2019, the Attorney General’s ICAC Task Force has received more than 54,700 CyberTips and has been involved in more than 900 arrests of sexual predators. Since 2006, the Attorney General’s ICAC Task Force has been involved in more than 2,300 arrests of sexual predators. In 2024, the task force was involved in rescuing more than 45 child victims from ongoing abuse. The task force also has provided internet safety training and education to tens of thousands of parents, teachers, students and law enforcement professionals.
 
Attorney General Raoul is reminding the public that child sexual exploitation can be reported online at cybertipline.com and child abuse at dcfsonlinereporting.dcfs.illinois.gov. In addition, local child advocacy centers can be found at childrensadvocacycentersofillinois.org.