Cyber Safety Presentation Delivers Shocking Statistics on Children and the Internet

Children and young adults may have more access to the Internet than ever before, but nationally recognized internet safety expert and Suffolk County Police Detective Rory Forrestal's presentation Wednesday evening on cyber bullying and Internet safety helped shed light on measures parents can take to protect their child.

The social networking phenomenon is here to stay, so parents and children need to learn how to use these tools safely, according to Detective Forrestal, who helped establish the Cyber Crimes Unit in Suffolk County.

He told parents not to demonize sites like Facebook, but to teach your children good Internet habits by setting up a private account with filters. Sexual predators look for easy targets, like an open profile. It's vest if you only allow people that your child knows and sees on a regular basis into their online world.

“Your children need to learn to control who and what information they are putting on the Internet," Forrestal said. "Start good Internet habits early."

The old rule of keeping the computer in the living room to monitor what your children are doing online is out the window. Almost 50 percent of middle school children are walking around with fully enabled 3G cell phones, giving them access to make videos and take photographs wherever they are and immediately upload them to the Internet or send as a text message. Kids need to know that any photo they post or send - even in private - is out there forever.

There are now websites where kids with a web cam can be live on the Internet with anyone to see, and who is watching? Sexual predators that download the feeds to create other pay web sites, according to detective Forrestal, who said that these pay sites are often based in other countries and cannot be prosecuted by U.S. law.   

Forrestal told parents that the first step in dealing with a cyber bully is not to respond to him/her. Next, block this bully on whatever social network you're on and print out any threatening messages.

It won't be long until every school district has a designated staff member to deal with Internet and cyber bullying issues, Forrestal said.

Diane Woods, a local parent, said she thought the meeting was informative.

“You only have so much control over your children and you don’t have any control over what else is out there," Woods said. "Most kids are naïve and they expect everyone to be good, but on the computer anybody can say they are anybody. That is scary.”

 Detective Forrestal shared some statistics –

• Children as young as the fourth grade are targets of internet predators and cyber bullies
• Fifth and sixth graders are sexting
• 1 in 7 kids will receive a solicitation over the Internet
• 1 in 4 kids will be cyber bullied
• 20 percent of teens have sent a naked picture of themselves over the Internet or cell phone
• 45 percent of kids have sent inappropriate text messages

Informative websites for parents –

PowerToLearn.Com

NetSmartz.Org

CyberBullying.Us

AThinLine.Org