TYLER, Texas (KLTV) – As social media and online gaming technology continue to dominate our world, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep children safe while using internet-enabled devices.
The Northeast Texas Child Advocacy Center hosted an event in Winnsboro for East Texas parents to learn more about how to keep children safe in a technology-driven world.
Caitlin Graham, the center’s community education coordinator, said their focus at the event was “getting to know your kids’ online friends.”
“They used to teach kids that there’s a creepy guy in a white van, don’t talk to them, don’t come near them, don’t accept candy, don’t help him find his puppy. But now, we give them a phone , and put strangers in their pockets. They have that device, that phone, those video games, that tablet, and we give them direct access to every stranger in the world,” Graham said.
According to the Pew Research Center, the average American teenager aged 13 to 18 spends more than 4.5 hours a day on social media.
Winnsboro Police Chief Ryan Brown said that’s how long your child is susceptible to being exposed to dangerous people.
“We do have a problem as a region, we have a problem with kids online who are not quite sure who they are talking to. Sometimes people can make fake profiles and pretend to be someone they may know, which can It becomes something where they send personal information or pictures of themselves. The information is there, but a lot of times there’s no way to get it back,” Brown said.
Graham said parents should ask their children about the technology they use and who they communicate with, use online protection tools but don’t rely solely on them, establish boundaries and enforce them, keep chargers in common areas of the home and don’t be afraid to say no .
“If we don’t understand the problem, it’s easy to sweep it under the rug. But the more we talk about it, the more we realize it, and that’s where we can take responsibility for it and say, ‘Yes, this problem exists, now that we know that, what can we do?'” Graham said.
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