Grooming-related messages reach almost two-thirds of children

Nearly two-thirds of Australian children surveyed in a recent study received at least one form of grooming-related communication from a stranger online in the past year, while almost one-third reported receiving direct requests for sexual information or interactions.

The study, led by Adelaide University, involved an online survey of roughly 300 Australian children ages 10 to 17. It was designed to broadly reflect the demographic characteristics of the Australian population and provide a snapshot of children’s online experiences rather than nationally representative estimates.

Published in Child Abuse & Neglect, the research was undertaken by Adelaide University in collaboration with researchers from eSafety, the Australian Institute of Criminology and Michigan State University.

“The most common experiences involved communication related to trust-building, personal questions and risk-assessment behaviors, such as strangers discussing common interests and asking about a child’s life, relationships or online activities,” said lead researcher Dr. Katie Logos from Adelaide University’s School of Society and Culture.

“More explicit solicitation-related communication, such as directly requesting sexual information, conversations or images, was less common but still experienced by a substantial number of children, with around one in five children being asked by someone they only knew online to send photos or videos of themselves or to meet up in person.”

Many children reported feeling indifferent about these interactions, often believed they were communicating with another child rather than an adult, and commonly responded by doing nothing or restricting the communicator from contacting them.

“This suggests some grooming behaviors may blend into ordinary online conversations and might be difficult to recognize,” Logos said.

“While some of the interactions may genuinely have involved other young people, children often cannot verify who is behind an account, highlighting concerns about adults posing as children to gain trust.”

Another key finding was that children who used common online safety measures, such as privacy settings, parental guidance or age-appropriate platforms, were just as likely to report receiving grooming-related communication as those who did not.

“This does not mean these safety measures are ineffective. It is possible that some children adopted stronger safety practices after experiencing these interactions,” said researcher Professor Russell Brewer, from Adelaide University’s School of Society and Culture and director of the Australian Cybercrime Observatory.

“While these strategies remain important for staying safe online, our findings suggest they may not completely prevent children from being exposed to grooming-related communication.”

Logos said the prevalence of grooming-related communication was higher than expected and above rates reported in previous studies, which have typically found rates ranging from around 5% to 30%.

“One reason for this difference is that we examined a broader range of behaviors that can form part of the grooming process, while existing research often focuses more narrowly on overtly sexual or unwanted solicitation from adults,” Logos said.

“We also asked about interactions with any online stranger, rather than limiting questions to people children believed were adults. This is important because grooming often involves subtle relationship-building tactics, and many offenders are known to pretend to be children online.”

Logos said online grooming can take many forms and can be difficult to recognize, often beginning through social media, online games or messaging apps.

“Many interactions can seem friendly or harmless at first. Offenders may use a range of more subtle grooming tactics before more obvious forms of online sexual solicitation, such as direct requests for sexual conversations, images or meetings,” Logos said.

“By the time an offender makes a sexual request, a child may already trust the person or feel comfortable talking to them.”

Examples of communications that can form part of the grooming process include: “What school do you go to?” “Do your parents check your phone?” “Let’s move to a different platform” or “Send me a photo so I know who I’m speaking to.”

Logos said, “These types of messages can be used to gather information, assess and respond to the risk of detection and, in some cases, isolate a child or sexualize interactions.”

Comments such as “We have so much in common” or “You’re really easy to talk to,” as well as deceptive claims about age, interests or where someone lives, can also be used to establish trust and develop a relationship with a child.

“Our findings suggest education may need to go beyond warning children about obvious dangers or direct requests for sexual content,” Logos said. “Understanding how children experience and interpret these early interactions can help us develop better education and support strategies that teach young people how to recognize potential warning signs and respond safely.”

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Lisa Lock

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Andrew Zinin

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