EPICWORLD DINNER TOPICS

Tim Ballard Foundation Newsletter:

Protecting Child Safety in Digital World

October 2026 Newsletter

STAND WITH THE MISSION
Pray for vulnerable children.
God’s Children are not for sale!
Together, we can help restore freedom, dignity, and hope locally and worldwide.

PROTECTING CHILDREN IN A DIGITAL WORLD

	The Way Exploitation Happens Is Changing. Prevention Has to Change With It.
	For children and teens, the digital world is simply part of everyday life. Friendships, games, school, entertainment, and conversations all happen online — and most of those experiences are positive.
	But the same spaces can also be used by people looking to manipulate or exploit them.
	Protecting children online does not mean teaching them to fear technology. It means helping them recognize unsafe behavior, trust their instincts, and know that they can always ask for help.
	The important thing to remember:
	Children do not need to identify someone’s intentions perfectly. They need to recognize when something feels uncomfortable, so they can stop responding and tell a trusted adult.
Someone may work to build a child’s trust before introducing pressure, secrecy, sexual conversations, requests for images, or attempts to move communication into a more private space.			Some behaviors worth talking about: • Excessive attention, compliments, gifts, or promises • Asking a child to keep conversations or friendships secret • Moving conversations from public spaces into private or encrypted messaging • Frequently asking where a child is, who they are with, or whether adults are nearby • Testing boundaries with increasingly personal or sexual questions • Pressuring a child to send photos or videos • Making a child feel guilty for saying no • Threatening to share information or images if the child stops responding
One behavior alone does not automatically mean someone is grooming a child.
The goal is not to make children suspicious of everyone online — it is to help them recognize when someone is ignoring their boundaries.
Start the Conversation. Children may hesitate to tell an adult about something uncomfortable online because they are embarrassed, afraid they will lose access to devices, or worried they will be blamed.
Try asking: “Who do you talk to the most online?” “Has anyone online ever asked you to keep something secret?” “What would you do if someone asked you for a picture you didn’t want to send?” “Has anyone online ever made you feel uncomfortable or pressured?” “If something weird happened online, who would you feel comfortable telling?” And remind them: “You can always come to me — even if you already responded, sent something, or think you made a mistake.” The goal is to make asking for help feel safer than keeping a secret.

 

WHY THIS MATTERS NOW

This October, organizations around the world are drawing renewed attention to how quickly online exploitation is changing.

A21’s 2026 Global Freedom Summit, taking place October 1, focuses specifically on online child sexual exploitation and equipping individuals and communities with practical prevention strategies.

 

Report on Exploitation of children

Don’t miss this excellent Cyber Tipline Report PDF

Click to access 2025-cybertipline-report.pdf

A New Digital Risk
Artificial intelligence can create incredibly realistic images, videos, voices, and other content — and those tools can also be misused. Images of real children can be altered to create fake sexual content without the child ever taking or sharing an explicit photo. AI-generated or manipulated imagery can then be used to embarrass, harass, threaten, or extort a young person.		2025 CyberTipline Report ➔
In 2025, the NCMEC CyberTipline received 21.3 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation.		NCMEC has also received reports involving young people using these technologies to create exploitative images of classmates and peers.