Expert warns young people about social media dangers

P?arents would never dream of putting their child in the driver’s seat of a vehicle without first teaching them the rules of the road, yet a nationally certified expert says parents often think nothing of giving their children gadgets that can open up dangerous realms of reality.
That’s because parents in general are unaware of the dangers that lurk in cyberspace, according to Ryan Klingensmith, who spoke recently to an audience at Margaret Bell Miller Middle School in Waynesburg. He said a big problem is that most parents are unable to speak or even interpret the lingo that kids use online today that may red flag the need for intervention.
“We need to teach that inner voice before they drive down the road. We take time teaching them to be safe, but when Christmas rolls around, we give them gadgets and tell them not to do anything stupid — and that’s because that’s all the advice we have,” said Klingensmith.
Klingensmith said because the parent generation of today didn’t have the gadgets as youngsters that their children have today, it’s is tough to identify with them, adding that the Internet and the apps available now can be a wonderful thing, but that some of what a child may stumble upon can be disturbing, including pornography, suicidal tendencies and trolling.
“The young people have the knowledge to work the gadgets, but they have no life wisdom. We have the wisdom, but not the knowledge to work the gadgets,” he said. “Kids have oodles and oodles of free time. It’s really unpredictable what they’ll see.”
Or, according to Klingensmith, what they will allow others to see. He cited examples of posting a newly obtained driver’s license or even class schedules to social media, both moves that could provide strangers information such as age, grade level, address and the general whereabouts of the child.
The easiest prey for Internet predators are girls who argue with their parents and boys whose parents don’t know where they are, he added.
“You wouldn’t think you would have to have these conversations, but you do,” he said.
The most important advice for kids today is to watch what is posted, said Klingensmith, adding that a recent study over a four-week period showed that 88 percent of photos posted online ended up being reposted somewhere else.
To help avoid the disclosure of location data when posting pictures, Klingensmith recommended going into settings and turning off all location services except for perhaps Mapquest and Yelp.
“Don’t run away from this stuff and turn your head off, because it’s not going to go away,” he said, adding that adults need to a show genuine interest in what apps might be available online until a child begins sharing their Internet experience and knowledge.
He added that older youths with Internet experience need to become role models and help guide the emerging youth as young as 8 years of age in areas where adults may often be reluctant or lacking in the toolbox of knowledge to be able to do so.
As for parents: monitor online activities and use an urban dictionary to look up online terminology.
Klingensmith advised that resource materials collected by parents and educators at the presentation, including a list of hashtag “code” names, be placed somewhere where kids are unlikely to look.
“Set expectations with a contract. ‘You pay for it, and you can take it away instead of just giving it to them to be quiet and occupied,” he said.” It’s easier to say ‘no’ now while they’re younger than wait until they’re 14 or so (when) it’s going to be a horrible fight.”