Sheriff’s deputy educates teens about Internet

An effort is underway among area schools and law enforcement agencies to raise awareness about the potential dangers of the Internet and social media.

“We want to make sure our students are safe when they use the Internet,” Northeast Nodaway R-V counselor Abby Groomer said.

In an effort to achieve that goal, Sgt. Jamie Vickers of the Nodaway County Sherriff’s Department is hoping to make the Internet a little safer and teenagers in Nodaway County a little more cautious by offering just that sort of education.

In addition to his work with the sheriff’s department, Vickers is a member of the Western Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force.

For the past seven years, Vickers has given presentations on Internet safety to high schoolers in Missouri and Iowa, educating them on how to avoid being victims of a cyber crime, and what the consequences can be if a teen commits a cyber crime.

Wednesday afternoon, Vickers began his presentation to students at Northeast Nodaway High School by explaining exactly what a cyber crime is.

“A cyber crime is when a perpetrator uses technology and/or the Internet to facilitate a crime,” Vickers said.

“Identity theft, child pornography, cyber bulling, all of these things are considered cyber crimes,” he said.

Throughout the presentation, Vickers stressed the importance of teens being cautious when posting information on social media sites.

“Profiles on sites like Facebook should always be set to private,” Vickers told the students.

He also warned against interacting with strangers via the Internet, as that facilitates young users being solicited by predators.

“Children are ideal victims,” Vickers said. “They’re easy targets.”

Vickers also encouraged the teens to report any time they are solicited or they received inappropriate messages online.

“A lot of the time, kids don’t report this stuff,” Vickers said. “So the bad guys know that their chances of getting caught are slim to none.”

Because, “normally the bad guys are talking to more than one kid. All it takes is one person to come to law enforcement and we can track down a bad guy and potentially save lots of other kids,” he said. “All it takes is one person.”

Discussing the controversial sexting trend, Vickers said, “It’s only okay and legal if both people doing it are over 18 and are consenting to do it.”

“We use the Internet a lot here at school,” Groomer said. “We have online classes, and some teachers do Internet-based research.

“And, of course, students have their cell phones,” she said.

“This really needs to start with the parents,” Vickers added.

“Parents need to teach their children how to use the Internet and use it safely,” he said. “My presentations reiterate basic Internet safety and cover topics parents might not know that much about.

“But it is extremely important that this type of education starts in the home,” he said.