As a trusted adult in many students’ lives, there is a chance you will come across situations involving images legally considered child pornography, and you are required by law to report certain situations related to child abuse. Before you come across these situations, make sure you understand the laws and your school policies around mandatory reporting. The first priority is always to keep students safe, and that can require different actions depending on the situation. You can report sextortion to CyberTipline.

We’ve seen some educators create a script to guide conversations, and keep students aware of the implications of what they’re saying.

Here’s something to get you started: “Thank you for trusting me. I can see you’re about to tell me something difficult – I’m here to listen and help, not judge. I want to make sure you’re safe, but need you to know that by law I’m required to report to [specific person or entity] if you tell me anything about [mandatory reporting issues]. That said, I will only speak with the people I need to speak with, and we can talk about who those people are. If that is not what you want, let’s talk about who else in your life you can go to for help right now.”

Bringing these topics and discussions to the classroom can help youth learn how to stay safe online. You can share our video, NoFiltr Talks, or even get ideas from our discussion guides here. To really understand how sextortion happens and the barriers to disclosure, check out our sextortion report and infographic. Make sure that you explain mandatory reporting laws in your state so that when a student shares their experiences they are not surprised by the outcomes.

PROTIP: Talk with other educators about online safety too. You’ve just learned a lot of information that would be valuable for other teachers to understand. Plus, the more unified responses are across all educators, the less confused students will be and the more confident you’ll be in your decisions. Consider hosting a webinar for teachers in your district – reach out to for more information. 

Learning about how sextortion happens and what to do to help protect your students is an important step in preventing it from happening in the first place.

Learn more about the revenge porn laws in your state. In many cases, these laws will cover sextortion as well. Don’t see your state? Call your lawmaker and ask them to consider legislation. Follow these instructions to make a call today.

Did this video make you laugh, but also teach you about something serious? Share it with your students and with your colleagues so they can be as informed as you are about what sextortion is and how it happens.

Consider hosting an anti-bullying assembly at your school, especially one that focuses on help seeking behavior and healthy and unhealthy relationships. Sextortion often results in bullying, and many of the same tactics used to address bullying can be used to address sextortion.