What parents can do to protect their children

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Staff Reports

San Dimas – According to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department San Dimas Station, when threats to any person occur, they take them very seriously and investigate to whatever extent possible.  When threats involve children and teens, it necessitates significant attention from law enforcement, schools and parents.

Recently, threats were posted via a social media account from anonymous persons. The threats and denigrating messages were directed at a student at a local school in San Dimas. Immediate steps were taken to ensure the safety of the intended target of the threats, and to address the safety of all students at the school.

School officials have cooperated and assisted investigators from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in identifying potential sources of the threats. The forensic investigation – the legal and technical process of identifying the persons who created the accounts and the devices or locations used – will take some time. In the meantime, school and law enforcement personnel will take the reasonable steps necessary to protect the students. The Sheriff’s Department will continue the investigation to conclusion.

Conflicts and bullying at schools are very real problems. When the conflicts expand to social media, parents are often unaware of the communication occurring silently on cell phones and computers. Parents should remain aware of the online activities of their children, and educate them of the serious consequences of bullying and threats. Children are sometimes suspended or expelled from school based on the serious nature of threats, often considered crimes, or at least violations of school policies.

What can parents due to protect their children from harm when the threat isn’t so obvious?  The website, Web MD notes that “Teens are teens, online or off,” and has the following advice:

“With such online perils, tried and true parenting skills, such as letting children know you love them and setting clear, consistent guidelines, may be more important than ever.”

“Parents should be proactive and fold the Internet into engaged parental activity,” says Anne Collier, Executive Director of Net Family News, Inc. Collier advises parents to talk to their kids regularly about their online activities: what sites they visit most often, and if they ever see things that make them uneasy.

Parents should recognize that an Internet-enabled phone (i.e. any device capable of downloading “apps” or accessing the Internet) is an Internet machine, capable of almost anything a stand-alone computer can do. As such, users can fall victim to predators and anonymous bullies, or be exposed to harmful material from anywhere in the world. Would you allow your child to walk unsupervised at any hour of the day or night, anywhere? Consider the Internet a space where parental attention and supervision is just as critical as any other place.

Not only can minors fall victim to others, they might choose to do things illegal, or harmful to others. Parents should counsel children on acceptable behavior and activities online. A simple standard that might apply is, “Don’t do anything online or with your phone that you wouldn’t do in front of me.”

Many advise that parents should possess, and use, the passwords to all devices and accounts for minor children. As one local parent said, “Getting a smart phone or tablet is a privilege, not a right.”

While the free Internet has many powerful and useful qualities, parents should be mindful of the potential for abuse by, or against, children. Please monitor these activities, and report threats or other crimes to local authorities.