I used to accept every follow request. After the workshop I locked down my accounts in one evening and finally understood why it mattered.
Alisha Ramkissoon
Form 5 student, Port of Spain
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Families & Schools
Cyber Grooming Awareness
How grooming actually unfolds online, the red flags at each stage, and exactly how to report it in T&T.
4.9 rating1.5 hours23 lessonsAll levels
Free course
Free
Free forever, no card needed
- AccessLifetime, self-paced
- CertificateOn completion
- SupportQ&A with instructors
4.9
Rating
1,890
Learners
1.5 hours
Duration
23
Lessons
All levels
Level
Certificate
Includes
About this course
Cyber grooming is one of the most serious online dangers facing young people in Trinidad and Tobago today, and it is also one of the least understood. Unlike a virus or a scam that attacks a device, grooming attacks a relationship. It is a deliberate, patient, and calculated process in which an adult or older peer builds an emotional bond with a young person so that they can later manipulate, exploit, or abuse them. The process can unfold over weeks or months, and by the time a young person recognises what is happening, the groomer may have built what feels like the most important relationship in their life. This course is written for young people between the ages of 9 and 19 across Trinidad and Tobago, and for the parents, guardians, and teachers who support them. The language is clear, calm, and honest, because accurate information is the best protection. You will learn exactly how grooming works, step by step. You will learn to recognise the warning signs in online conversations, in changing behaviour, and in the way a relationship develops. And you will leave with a firm, simple plan for what to do if you suspect grooming — whether it is happening to you, or to someone you care about. One principle runs through every section of this course without exception: the child is never to blame. Grooming is a crime committed deliberately and strategically by the person who targets a young person. The young person who was targeted made no mistake and carries no shame. Shame and secrecy are the groomer's most powerful tools. This course removes them by replacing secrecy with knowledge and shame with clarity. In Trinidad and Tobago, grooming most often begins in places that feel safe and familiar: a WhatsApp class group, a Discord gaming server, a comment section on TikTok or Instagram, or inside a game like Roblox, Fortnite, or Free Fire. It can also begin in person — at school, church, sports practice, or a family gathering — and then move online to continue in private. Understanding where it happens is the first step in recognising it.
What you'll be able to do
- Define cyber grooming and explain clearly why it is never the young person's fault.
- Describe the complete grooming sequence from initial targeting to extortion.
- Identify specific grooming tactics including love bombing, gift-giving, isolation, desensitisation, and blackmail.
- Recognise behavioural and conversational warning signs in yourself and in others.
- Apply the Preserve Block Tell Report pathway confidently and immediately.
- Identify and contact the correct statutory authorities in Trinidad and Tobago.
- Respond to a peer or child who discloses grooming in a way that is calm, non-judgmental, and effective.
Curriculum
23 lessons · 1 hr 38 min of study
Module 01
Understanding Cyber Grooming
Goal: To understand what grooming is, who commits it, where it happens in Trinidad and Tobago, and why it matters.
- What Is Cyber Grooming?Reading · 4 min
- Who Commits Grooming? (Debunking the "Stranger Danger" Myth)Reading · 4 min
- Where Grooming Happens — The T&T Digital LandscapeReading · 4 min
- The Impact of Grooming — Why This MattersReading · 4 min
- T&T Legal Framework — What the Law SaysReading · 4 min
- Understanding Cyber Grooming: questions and answersQ&A · 5 min
Module 02
The Grooming Sequence — Step by Step
Goal: To understand the complete progression of grooming tactics so that each stage can be recognised and interrupted.
- Stage 1 — Targeting and SelectionReading · 4 min
- Stage 2 — Building Trust and the Appearance of FriendshipReading · 4 min
- Stage 3 — Isolation and SecrecyReading · 4 min
- Stage 4 — Emotional Manipulation and Love BombingReading · 4 min
- Stage 5 — Desensitisation and Boundary TestingReading · 4 min
- Stage 6 — Requests, Threats, and ExtortionReading · 4 min
- The Grooming Sequence — Step by Step: questions and answersQ&A · 5 min
Module 03
Spotting the Red Flags
Goal: To identify specific conversational, behavioural, and relationship warning signs that a situation has become unsafe.
- Warning Signs in ConversationsReading · 4 min
- Behavioural Warning SignsReading · 4 min
- Your Privacy Is Your ProtectionReading · 4 min
- Building Your Safety Network Before You Need ItReading · 4 min
- Spotting the Red Flags: questions and answersQ&A · 5 min
Module 04
The Pathway to Safety
Goal: To apply the Preserve Block Tell Report pathway confidently, and to understand how to support others through disclosure.
- The Action Pathway — Preserve, Block, Tell, ReportReading · 4 min
- How and Where to Report in Trinidad and TobagoReading · 4 min
- Being an Upstander — Helping a Friend Who DisclosesReading · 4 min
- How Adults Should Respond to a DisclosureReading · 6 min
- The Pathway to Safety: questions and answersQ&A · 5 min
What's included
- 23 lessons · 1 hr 38 min of study
- Readings, knowledge checks and Q&A
- Self-paced, on any device
- Downloadable checklists
- CyberSafeTT certificate
- Group & school rates available
Instructor
Daren Dhoray
Digital Anthropologist · Founder, CyberSafeTT
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What people say after taking CyberSafeTT courses.
The team spoke to 400 of our students without a single dull minute. Teachers left with a plan, not just a presentation.
Dexter Charles
Principal, San Fernando
The online safety course gave me the words to talk to my son about sextortion. Calm, clear and made for Caribbean families.
Marcia Joseph
Parent, Chaguanas
Our staff phishing click rate dropped sharply within a month. The scenarios used real local scams, so it landed instantly.
Kwesi Baptiste
IT lead, credit union
Short lessons I could finish between classes. The checklist alone saved me from a fake scholarship payment link.
Shivani Persad
University student, UWI
I run everything from WhatsApp. This training showed me exactly where my business was exposed and how to fix it that week.
Roger Mohammed
Small business owner, Arima
I used to accept every follow request. After the workshop I locked down my accounts in one evening and finally understood why it mattered.
Alisha Ramkissoon
Form 5 student, Port of Spain
The team spoke to 400 of our students without a single dull minute. Teachers left with a plan, not just a presentation.
Dexter Charles
Principal, San Fernando
The online safety course gave me the words to talk to my son about sextortion. Calm, clear and made for Caribbean families.
Marcia Joseph
Parent, Chaguanas
Our staff phishing click rate dropped sharply within a month. The scenarios used real local scams, so it landed instantly.
Kwesi Baptiste
IT lead, credit union
Short lessons I could finish between classes. The checklist alone saved me from a fake scholarship payment link.
Shivani Persad
University student, UWI
I run everything from WhatsApp. This training showed me exactly where my business was exposed and how to fix it that week.
Roger Mohammed
Small business owner, Arima
I run everything from WhatsApp. This training showed me exactly where my business was exposed and how to fix it that week.
Roger Mohammed
Small business owner, Arima
Short lessons I could finish between classes. The checklist alone saved me from a fake scholarship payment link.
Shivani Persad
University student, UWI
Our staff phishing click rate dropped sharply within a month. The scenarios used real local scams, so it landed instantly.
Kwesi Baptiste
IT lead, credit union
The online safety course gave me the words to talk to my son about sextortion. Calm, clear and made for Caribbean families.
Marcia Joseph
Parent, Chaguanas
The team spoke to 400 of our students without a single dull minute. Teachers left with a plan, not just a presentation.
Dexter Charles
Principal, San Fernando
I used to accept every follow request. After the workshop I locked down my accounts in one evening and finally understood why it mattered.
Alisha Ramkissoon
Form 5 student, Port of Spain
I run everything from WhatsApp. This training showed me exactly where my business was exposed and how to fix it that week.
Roger Mohammed
Small business owner, Arima
Short lessons I could finish between classes. The checklist alone saved me from a fake scholarship payment link.
Shivani Persad
University student, UWI
Our staff phishing click rate dropped sharply within a month. The scenarios used real local scams, so it landed instantly.
Kwesi Baptiste
IT lead, credit union
The online safety course gave me the words to talk to my son about sextortion. Calm, clear and made for Caribbean families.
Marcia Joseph
Parent, Chaguanas
The team spoke to 400 of our students without a single dull minute. Teachers left with a plan, not just a presentation.
Dexter Charles
Principal, San Fernando
I used to accept every follow request. After the workshop I locked down my accounts in one evening and finally understood why it mattered.
Alisha Ramkissoon
Form 5 student, Port of Spain