'Internet Safety for Parents' set for January 19
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Blaine County Undersheriff Frank Billmayer will be doing a presentation in Chinook on internet safety for parents. Much of the material will come from Billmayer’s experiences while serving on the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force in Montana.
ICAC is a nationwide initiative started in 1998 under the U.S. Department of Justice. ICAC is charged with identifying, arresting and prosecuting predators on the internet who put children in harm’s way. The Blaine County Sheriff’s Office is one of 12 local law enforcement agencies as well as several state and federal groups that make up the task force in Montana.
Billmayer said the purpose of the presentation is to acquaint parents with some of the tactics predators use to snare child victims. He will describe actions a parent can take when their child, or they, receive a threat on the internet. He added, “The purpose of the presentation is to make parents aware of the potential exposure their kids have on the internet and to give parents some tools to monitor what their children are doing on the internet. The best way for a parent to prevent their child from being a victim is being a parent and talk with their children about the child’s online activity.” Billmayer has already given similar presentations to parent groups in Turner, Havre and Rudyard.
The problem
Statistically, 93 percent of teens ages 13 to 17 go online. State and local law enforcement agencies reported a 230 percent increase in the number of documented complaints of online enticement of children from 2004 to 2008, a trend that is likely still growing exponentially.
The CyberTipline, a national source for reporting suspected sexual advances over the internet, has received more than 2.5 million complaints of suspected child sexual exploitation since it was launched in 1998. ICAC notes a more than 1,000 percent increase in complaints of child sex trafficking from 2004 to 2008. The problem only compounds as more teens and younger kids have access to devices that connect to the internet. Predators are becoming more proficient using online sources to prey on children.
The presentation
Using information from cases pursued and prosecuted by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Billmayer will describe some of the tactics law enforcement is now using to catch internet predators. He will show how predators build trust with an unsuspecting young victims and how these online encounters can end in tragedy. Billmayer said, “I don’t intend to sugarcoat the topic, parents need to see the potential dangers.”
More specific topics will include the hazards associated with P2P (file sharing), a growing way to share digital files such as music and movies. It’s also a way for someone to inadvertently share personal information with a predator. The presentation will also cover issues with chatting and chat rooms, using social sites and playing on game sites, all of which can give a predator personal information about an unsuspecting participant.
Other topics to be discussed are sexting, enticing (soliciting for explicit photos) and sextortion—the use of photos as leverage to unsuspecting kids. Revenge porn, postings from ex-boy or girl friends, is also part of the presentation.
Billmayer said, “Recently I’ve begun talking to parents about ‘radicalization’ on the internet.” Readers will recall the number of terrorists who said they were first recruited via internet sites of a political nature. Billmayer said the ICAC is not yet investigating these types of cases but want parents to be aware of their potential to lure young people to a radical cause.
Billmayer gave an interesting example of how we prepare our children to face the dangers of the world. He said, “We make kids study materials, take classes, pass tests and spend a year learning how to drive under the supervision of an experienced driver to get a driver’s license. We give kids a smart phone, tablet or computer with no cautions or limits. Either one can be deadly to an unprepared teen or person.”
The internet safety for parents program will be held at the Chinook Alliance Church on Tuesday, January 19 at 7 p.m. The program lasts about an hour and a half, with time for questions from parents.
The program is open to anyone and all are welcome. The church is at the southwest corner of Indiana Street and Highway 2.
