Educate Your Children On Dangers of Social Media

By  //  August 27, 2013

Weekly Crime Tip From Sheriff Wayne Ivey

ABOVE VIDEO: While social media has many positives it can also be a gateway for criminals to reach our children if we as parents are not engaged in their on-line activities.

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – With technology being an intricate part of our family’s every day life we need to educate our children about the dangers of social media such as FaceBook, Twitter and the many other sites that are out there.

With technology being an intricate part of our family's every day life we need to educate our children about the dangers of social media such as FaceBook, Twitter and the many other sites that are out there. (BCSO video image)
With technology being an intricate part of our family’s every day life we need to educate our children about the dangers of social media such as FaceBook, Twitter and the many other sites that are out there. (BCSO video image)

While social media has many positives it can also be a gateway for criminals to reach our children if we as parents are not engaged in their on-line activities.

On any given day there are over 10 million underage users on social media sites, many of them unsupervised. As parents we need to talk to our children and make sure we have their “privacy” settings correctly structured on their pages and also that we know their password so we can safely evaluate their activities and those they are associating with.

As parents we need to talk to our children and make sure we have their “privacy” settings correctly structured on their pages and also that we know their password so we can safely evaluate their activities and those they are associating with.

We must also remember there are apps out there such as “Facebook Graph” that if they are not truthful about being under 18 when they create their page their profiles can be viewed by others even if they are normally blocked.

Essentially, we need to monitor all of our children’s activities regardless if they are on-line or out in public. Today’s criminals take advantage of technology to communicate with our children so we must be more cautious now, than ever before.

Below is a video link that I encourage you to watch with your children to start a conversation about the dangers of social media. As always thank you for taking time to read this important safety information and for sharing it with all of your family and friends.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey has been a law enforcement officer for over three decades. Sheriff Ivey is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and has a Bachelor’s Degree from Daytona State College in Management and Supervision. Sheriff Ivey’s background in law enforcement is inclusive of Management, Criminal Investigations, Narcotics, Patrol Services, Public Integrity Investigations, and Corrections.

Sheriff Wayne Ivey

Prior to being elected in 2012, Sheriff Ivey served the citizens of the State of Florida as a Resident Agent in Charge for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. As a member of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Sheriff Ivey developed and created the country’s first ever statewide Task Force on Identity Theft. That same year the Task Force was named one of the top five most innovative programs in the country by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and investigated approximately 44 million dollars in fraud cases. Additionally, as a member of FDLE, Sheriff Ivey created the Child Abduction Response Team (C.A.R.T) that re-defined the way Child Abduction cases are conducted throughout the country today. The program was later selected as the most innovative program in the country by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and is now used as a nationwide model in the response and investigation of child abductions.

Sheriff Ivey has testified before the United States Congress on law enforcement related matters and has extensive experience in the area of Public Integrity Investigations. Sheriff Ivey was honored as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Special Agent of the Year (1996) and was also recognized by the Commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for his Outstanding Contributions to Criminal Justice. In August of 2011 Sheriff Ivey was honored by the National Organization of Victims Advocacy for his work at the national level as an advocate of victim’s rights and protection.

Sheriff Ivey speaks regularly on topics such as Identity Theft, Crime in America, Human Trafficking, Domestic Violence, and Self Defense through Mental Preparedness. Sheriff Ivey firmly believes that Crime Prevention and Education are vital to reduce our crime rate and protect our community.