With kids back in school for the 2025-26 school year, adolescents may find themselves spending more time online and reconnecting with friends to share Summer stories and dive into new coursework.
But with online activity comes lurking dangers. Snap, Snapchat’s parent company, has launched a program[1] to help teens stay safe, and help parents keep them safe.
“The Keys: A Guide to Digital Safety” is a first-of-its-kind interactive online safety program designed for both teens and their parents to educate both groups of the dangers online.
Tackling subjects such as bullying, illicit drug use, nude or other intimate images and “sextortion,” the program teaches kids and parents how to recognize threats and to safely deal with them. “Sextortion,” sometimes referred to as “revenge porn,” is when someone obtains a sensitive image of a person and threatens its release for various reasons.
The program was developed in collaboration with Common Sense Media and informed by safety experts. Snap’s teen Council for Digital Well-Being then reviewed the program to ensure it will adequately reach peers.
The program was inspired by driver’s education curricula, which combines classroom education on the rules of the road with practical education through hands-on learning behind the wheel. Similarly, the program teaches teens and parents what to look for and various ways to respond safely before offering interactive scenarios that users can work through themselves to further ensure they have learned the safest online practices.
“We developed The Keys because we saw an opportunity in teen-focused digital safety education. This program goes beyond spreading awareness — it builds practical skills by tackling the most challenging situations teenagers could potentially face online,” Snap Global Head of Platform Safety Jacqueline Beauchere said.
“We hope The Keys will help provide teens with the critical thinking skills and confidence they need to safely navigate digital spaces.”
The 45-minute program can be completed in one sitting, or paused and finished later, to ensure it is accessible to all regardless of their schedules.
It includes videos, interactive reflections and realistic scenarios — such as being offered prescription medication to help manage classroom stress, or a request from a romantic interest to share an inappropriate photo — that allow users to practice what they’ve learned.
The program also includes resources to help kids and parents find places to turn when faced with a threat.
The program includes two sections. The first outlines risks online on various platforms, while the second is a tutorial on Snapchat’s safety features, settings and reporting tools, which can be accessed by both kids and their parents.
Snap suggests that teens take the class with a parent, teacher or trusted adult so they can ask questions as they navigate and interact with the content. Besides identifying and responding to safety threats, the program is also designed to strengthen communication between teens and their caregivers.
The program is the latest effort by Snap to ensure user safety, and is available on the company’s online safety hub[2], including a safety guide for parents.
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References
- ^ launched a program (newsroom.snap.com)
- ^ online safety hub (parents.snapchat.com)