The dangers that exist in the world of social media today and how predators use it to put your child at risk.
Lt. Kinsman has been in law enforcement for 24 years and the last 20 of those years at the Portsmouth Police Department. In 2020, Lt. Kinsman accepted an offer in the Investigations Division as the Commander of the NH Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. NH ICAC is one of 61 total ICAC Task Forces across the country and is responsible for a complex approach to investigating and prosecuting internet-based child sexual abuse cases. Lt. Kinsman is a veteran of the US Air Force and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Counseling.
Key Takeaways
- Parents should start the conversation about social media when they’re children are young to create an open dialogue about use and safe practices, and not wait until they are in the height of their teenage years.
- Kids use social media to connect and if they’re growing friendships based on someone’s social media ranking, it’s a red flag.
- Because social media is an instant gratification when people like or give a thumbs up, kids can begin to crave more or more.
- Teens can find themselves trusting someone they don’t know while believing that it’s a real person who genuinely wants to get to know them.
- There are multi-billion dollar conglomerates across the world that make a living off of this. They create a false profile and send out a wide net to fish for responses. Kids can fall into being comfortable with these new connections and end up sharing personal photos and information. That can be used against them in an extortion-type method to get $ with the false promise that they won’t share the information.
- As parents we can let our teens know that we are here for them no matter what comes up.
- Keeping the door open on dialogue with your teen about social media will help keep them informed about possible dangers. Knowledge is powerful.
- Parents need to work WITH their children on this issue, not AGAINST them.
- S.M.A.R.T. acronym: be the parent who is aware of what’s going on.
