ODESSA, Texas — In the world today, people spends a lot of time attached to technology for better or for worse. On Tuesday, Ector County ISD welcomed in Homeland Security to share with parents how they can keep their children safe from threats that present themselves online.
Parents play a key role in needing to keep a close eye on what their children are doing online. Several social media apps and other ways to connect digitally can all be places where children are fooled by criminals, leaving parents in position to help protect their children.
Online activity is meant to be positive, but like all things in life, there are two sides to every story.
“If we’re not monitoring what’s going on we might not catch a danger, and we may not realize that this app or that app has certain dangerous aspects of it that somebody could get out to their kiddo and not even realize it and something happen to them," said Becky Rhodes, the Director of Nursing and Health Service for Ector County ISD.
As several parents learned about the dangers of online activity, one parent -- Jeannie Blankinship -- is using it as an opportunity to help others.
“I’m really looking out for the friends in my kid's lives, and other kids that I’m in contact with, because while I know what I’ve done and I’ve raised my kids, there [are] other kids out there that haven’t had that involvement, they haven’t had that concerned parent, and so I try to step in and be that for them and say ‘hey, you’re not in a good place, you shouldn’t be doing that,'" said Blankinship.
Ending up in a bad place online could range from inappropriate content to cyberbullying, as well as a growing crime called sextortion where criminals threaten to share nude or explicit images for sexual content, activity or financial gain.
Several apps have dangerous components lurking, making it important for parents to keep their children safe.
“I mean things are changing so quickly with our kids, and you find out about one app and they’ll just change to another app and they’ll go to a different platform," said Blankinship. "So, really having to stay up on what the apps are, what’s the talk, what are the things that are said so that you know how to have that conversation with them.”
For online activity to truly produce positive outcomes, parents must establish trust and open communication with their children to keep them on the right track.
“Don’t be afraid to say no," said Blankinship. "Set those limits. Even when they want to say ‘no, I want more and I want more,’ is to set that limit and say ‘no, you’re not going to have that.’ Then we can reach out and mentor the younger parents. When you have that baby, when they’re a toddler, don’t hand them that cell phone, don’t let them watch the videos, keep them engaged other ways.”
Certain devices allow parents to set up controls for their children, and there are some apps that can help with monitoring that include ‘Net Nanny’ and ‘Bark.’ If you want to learn more about online safety and the dangers of online activity, there will be another session on Tuesday, June 27 at 5:30 p.m. at the Boys and Girls Club located at 1476 N. Knox Ave.