POSH
First 24 Hours After an Online Incident
The first response matters.
Stay calm, protect the child, preserve evidence safely, reduce contact, and get the right help.
ONLINE INCIDENT
Stop Contact
Save Evidence
Support Child
Report
Use this page when something has already happened:
Private messages, grooming concerns, sextortion, threats, screenshots, bullying, strange contact, gifts, secrecy, image abuse, or unsafe online pressure.
Calm action protects better than panic
STOP. SAVE SAFELY. SUPPORT. REPORT.
The goal in the first 24 hours is not to solve everything instantly. The goal is to stop escalation, support the child, protect evidence safely, and move into the correct help pathway.
Your child needs safety before interrogation.
If they feel punished for telling you, they may stop talking when you need information most.
First rule
Do not blame the child.
Do not panic-message the other person.
Do not delete evidence too early.
Do not negotiate with threats alone.
Do not post publicly while emotions are high.
Do not screenshot, save, forward, or share explicit under-18 sexual images.
Calm first. Action second.
The first 24 hours pattern
Calm the child
↓
Stop unsafe contact
↓
Preserve safe evidence
↓
Secure accounts
↓
Report and support
This is the calm action pattern. Repeat it whenever something feels serious.
Step 1: Make the child safe
- Move them away from the device if they are panicking.
- Reassure them they are not in trouble for telling you.
- Check whether they feel threatened, blackmailed, scared, trapped, or unsafe.
- Ask whether the person knows their school, address, location, friends, family, or routines.
- If there is immediate danger, contact emergency services.
- If the child is distressed, stay with them and slow the conversation down.
Start with: “You are not in trouble. We are going to deal with this together.”
Step 2: Stop unsafe contact calmly
- Stop replying to the unsafe person.
- Do not argue, threaten, bait, impersonate, or confront them.
- Do not send more images, information, money, passwords, or messages.
- Do not accept new requests from related accounts.
- Do not move the conversation to another app.
- Pause private messages or unknown contact where possible.
If threats are involved, do not negotiate alone. Move to evidence and reporting.
Step 3: Preserve evidence safely
Evidence helps adults, platforms, police, and reporting services understand what happened. But it must be handled safely.
Save where safe
- usernames, display names, handles, and account IDs
- profile links, URLs, invite links, servers, groups, or channels
- ordinary chat screenshots showing context, threats, pressure, or grooming language
- dates, times, app names, and platform names
- gift, payment, Robux, item, or account-help evidence
- report confirmations or reference numbers
Do not save or share illegal material
Do not screenshot, save, forward, repost, send, download, or share explicit sexual images of a child or suspected child sexual abuse material.
Preserve surrounding details instead and report through official pathways.
Step 4: Secure the device and accounts
- Change passwords if accounts may be compromised.
- Check connected accounts, recovery emails, and logged-in devices.
- Turn on stronger privacy settings.
- Limit who can message, follow, add, gift, call, or invite your child.
- Check whether the child moved from one app to another.
- Move devices into visible spaces while the situation is being handled.
Secure access without making the child feel punished for telling the truth.
If threats or sextortion are involved
Do not send more.
Do not pay.
Do not negotiate alone.
Do not stay silent.
Do not delete profiles or messages too early.
Save safe evidence and report quickly.
Threats mean get help — not more silence.
Step 5: Ask calm questions
Do not interrogate. Start with safety and simple facts.
“When did this start?”
“What app or game did it start on?”
“Did they ask you to move to another app?”
“Did they ask you to keep secrets?”
“Did they ask for photos, money, gifts, passwords, or personal information?”
“Did they threaten you or make you feel trapped?”
“Are you worried they know where you live, go to school, or spend time?”
The aim is understanding, not catching the child out.
Step 6: Identify the pathway
Many incidents move across platforms. Find the path.
Where it started
↓
Who made contact
↓
Where it moved
↓
What they asked for
↓
What pressure appeared
The pathway helps you work out whether this is bullying, grooming, sextortion, scam contact, peer pressure, platform risk, or real-world danger.
Step 7: Report through the right channels
- Report the account or content inside the platform where appropriate.
- Use official child safety reporting pathways where needed.
- Contact police or emergency services if there is immediate danger or real-world risk.
- Contact the school if peers, classmates, bullying, screenshots, or group chats are involved.
- Keep records of reports made, reference numbers, emails, and platform confirmations.
Do not rely only on blocking if there is serious risk, threats, exploitation, blackmail, sexual requests, or evidence of grooming.
What not to do in the first 24 hours
- Do not yell at the child for telling you.
- Do not immediately delete everything.
- Do not screenshot, save, forward, or share explicit under-18 sexual images.
- Do not confront the person aggressively from your own account.
- Do not bait, threaten, impersonate, or run your own investigation.
- Do not post screenshots publicly while the child is exposed.
- Do not assume “it was only online.”
- Do not minimise threats, shame, blackmail, secrecy, or coercion.
- Do not let the child handle it alone.
The wrong first reaction can make the child hide the next part.
What to say to your child
“You are not in trouble for telling me.”
“We are going to slow this down.”
“You do not have to reply anymore.”
“We need to save what happened before anything is deleted.”
“The person pressuring or threatening you is the one doing wrong.”
“We will work out the next step together.”
Platform-specific scenario support
Connected urgent response pages
Final POSH reminder
Your first job is safety.
Your second job is preserving evidence safely.
Your third job is the correct help pathway.
Your ongoing job is support, trust, and follow-up.
The child needs to know they can come to you before things get worse.