Parents struggle to keep their children safe in a constantly evolving digital world

TORONTO, Feb. 21, 2025 /CNW/ - On the eve of National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, Covenant House is urging parents and caregivers to stay vigilant and continue conversations about sex trafficking to help safeguard children from online threats.

Awareness, education and dialogue are essential to help keep young people safe and prevent sex trafficking. Yet, new research focused on parents and caregivers of teenage children (aged 12-20), conducted by Leger on behalf of Covenant House, indicates that while most Canadian parents and caregivers are comfortable talking about sex trafficking and online safety with their children many parents and caregivers admit they can't keep up with online technology in a constantly changing digital world where online safety is paramount.

Other key findings from the research include:

• Age Risk Disparity: 55 per cent of parents and caregivers say children aged 12-14 are most vulnerable online, but concerns drop for older teens.
• Unequal Concern: 61 per cent of parents and caregivers with a daughter worry more about their daughters' online safety, while only 37 per cent with a son are concerned.
• Declining Concern: Concern peaks at age 12 (23 per cent) but drops to 16 per cent by age 13 and continues decreasing as children get older.
• Parental Struggles: 56 per cent of parents and caregivers feel overwhelmed by online risks, and 57 per cent struggle to control screen time and online activities.
• Safety Issues: Concerns about online safety are prevalent, with 83 per cent of parents and caregivers worrying about people online who might try to take advantage of their children, and 36 per cent reporting their child has been approached online by someone they didn't know.

Although girls have been the primary target for luring, gaming sites are now emerging as a key gateway for sexual exploitation of boys. These trends, along with the increase in trafficking on gaming sites and social media platforms that continue to emerge and evolve, underscore the need for more awareness about the impact of this issue on both sexes, the need for parent and caregiver oversight on their children's online activities, and more conversation on this concerning crime.

To address this growing concern, Covenant House provides free sex trafficking education programs to students across the GTA. Last year, over 11,000 students learned how to protect themselves through these sessions.

For more resources and practical steps to protect young people from sex trafficking and online sexual exploitation, visit CovenantHouseToronto.ca.

About Covenant House Toronto

Covenant House helps youth ignite their potential and reclaim their lives. As Canada's largest agency serving youth who are homeless, trafficked or at risk, we offer the widest range of services to hundreds of young people every day.

Covenant House is a national leader providing direct support to hundreds of survivors of sex trafficking. Our comprehensive anti-trafficking plan includes prevention and awareness, front line services and knowledge sharing. Since 2017, the agency has delivered prevention education to help students and teachers recognize the warning signs and to prevent this crime from occurring in the first place. Over the last seven years, Covenant House has taught thousands of students about sex trafficking and offered hotel industry training to help prevent this crime.

Quotes:

"Many parents I work with are concerned how quickly a trafficker has lured their child online and feel overwhelmed by a constantly evolving digital world," said Audrey Hykel, a family counsellor on our Anti-Human Trafficking Team at Covenant House. "Awareness, education and dialogue are so essential to help keep young people safe and prevent sex trafficking from occurring in the first place. This is why it's so important for parents and caregivers to be aware of and stay connected with their children's online activities, so they can help them to build their safety skills, the confidence to trust their instincts and apply critical thinking when something doesn't feel quite right."

"Case numbers for sexual exploitation and trafficking are on the rise in Toronto, with Ontario being the biggest hub for sex trafficking in the country," said Detective Richard Shaw, with Toronto Police Services Human Trafficking Enforcement Unit. "It's concerning to watch the sexual exploitation of children, often online, increase so rapidly over the past 36 months and Cybertips.ca contending with a drastic increase in the number of tips being received by Cybertips.ca in recent years. We work hard and proactively to help protect young people from this kind of devastating exploitation and we want to encourage people to learn more and have conversations on this issue, so we can all work together to help young people stay safe."

"As we mark National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, we want to equip parents, caregivers and teachers with tools and knowledge about sex trafficking, so we all can work together to protect young people," said Mark Aston, Executive Director of Covenant House. "Our in-school prevention program helps educate youth on how to navigate these issues and how to protect themselves and others. These early interventions and encouraging conversations on these issues can have a life-changing impact on young people's lives."

SOURCE Covenant House Toronto

For more information contact: Sarah Boesveld, Manager, Public Relations & Advocacy, Cell: 647-678-4372, [email protected]