Digital Childhood Script Series
"Someone I don't know messaged me."
What to say
Start here
"Thank you for telling me. That was the right call and I want you to keep doing it, so nothing bad is going to happen to you for bringing this to me."
Look at it together
"Can we read it together? I'm not looking for something you did wrong. I want to see what they said, because grown-ups who do this have a pattern and I know what it looks like."
Say what happens next
"We're going to block and report them, and you don't have to reply first or explain yourself to them. If they turn up again under a different name, you tell me the same way you just did."
What not to say
"Why were you even talking to them?" The moment a kid feels blamed for the message arriving, they stop reporting the next one, and the next one is the one you really need to hear about.
Why this matters
The whole safety plan rests on your kid telling you early, and what decides that is how the first conversation goes. Leading with thanks and then acting calmly is what buys you the second report, and the tenth.
Follow-up questions
- "Has anyone else you don't know tried to message you?"
- "Did they ask you anything about where you live or where you go?"
- "What made you decide to tell me?"