DANGER: If this app is on your kid’s phone, delete it immediately

‼ Internet safety experts gather to give advice to parents

‼ There are 500,000 child predators online every day

‼ A leading expert says keep your kids off one specific app

The dangers lurking on the internet have never been greater.

In what is an alarming statistic, the FBI estimates that 500,000 predators are online daily, with kids between the ages of 12 and 15 most at risk. These predators are lurking on social media sites, online gaming platforms, chartrooms, and anywhere else popular with kids.

With kids spending considerable time on the internet every day, parents need to understand how to identify where predators are lurking and how to safeguard their children.

New Jersey 101.5 brought together the leading experts on internet safety and human trafficking to bring parents the most up-to-date information about the ever-changing ways predatory behavior manifests itself on the internet and connected devices.

With new technologies, games, apps, platforms and all manner of connected devices, parents need to be vigilant about who our kids are talking to, gaming with and connecting to.

No presumption of privacy

Predators meet our kids online and begin the grooming process with a simple connection over gaming or pop culture. They know the language our kids use. They are highly skilled in making our kids feel comfortable sharing and connecting.

All of our panelists agreed parents must make it clear to their kids that they will be watching and monitoring online activities.

Some may suggest this is an invasion of privacy, but Stephanie Lyon, licensed clinical psychologist and assistant professor of clinical psychology at Rutgers University, says it is a parents' job to keep their kids safe, and that means knowing who they are talking to and interacting with.

That doesn't mean angrily confronting kids about their online activity, but conversations should begin by asking gentle questions.

For example, if you notice your child is hiding their phone or going into their bedroom to answer calls and texts, it should prompt a question like, "Who are you talking to?"

Lyon says you can dig deeper by asking, "I've noticed you are leaving the room to chat on your phone. I'm concerned. Who are you chatting with?"

Don't let kids use this app

John Pizzuro is the former commander of the New Jersey State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and now CEO of Raven.

He says wherever kids are online, predators will find them.

However, he is particularly concerned about one app.

"I would keep your children off discord right now," Pizzuro told New Jersey 101.5.

Discord bills itself as a voice, video and text chat app and markets to kids 13-years-old and older.

The danger, Pizzuro says, is a lack of monitoring. "They don't moderate, and you have a lot of gamers on Discord," Pizzuro warned.

Pizzuro also has concerned with Roblox, although not necessarily with the game itself. Gamers can create separate spaces where they can interact privately.

"When you look at Roblox in Minecraft, I think you have to be careful about other rooms that are created because now I can create a room where I can do self-harm."

It's those private rooms within the platform where your kids can get into danger, and not just from child sex predators.

"It goes way beyond now the realm of predation. It's things from drug use, to racism, to sexism to violence."

The Newark office of the FBI recently warned they have found international terrorist organizations lurking on gaming apps in an attempt to recruit kids as young as 11 and entice them into committing acts of violence.

What can you do?

From what to look for on your kids' phones, computers and game consoles to how to begin conversations about who your kids are talking to, watch a replay of our Town Hall on internet dangers.

Our experts guide you through the technology as well as the warning signs your child is already being groomed.

You will also hear chilling stories from two women who are survivors of human trafficking.

A full replay of the program, "Targeted — Protecting New Jersey Children from Online Predators" can be found HERE.

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