Scott Williams, swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Scott Williams About 50 parents and other adults attended the free social media awareness event held in a lecture hall inside Shawano Community High School.
Leader Photo by Scott Williams Detective Jesse Sperberg of the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department used a computer and big screen to demonstrate how easily children can access pornography or other dangerous content on the Internet.
Parents got an eyeful when they gathered in Shawano this week to learn the hazards of allowing children to explore social media and other risky places on the Internet.
Representatives of the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department showed pornographic images in an effort to dramatize how easily children can be exposed to dangerous content when given unrestricted access to the online world.
The sheriff’s department joined the Shawano Police Department, Shawano School District, Safe Haven and other local groups in presenting the program on social media awareness for parents and others.
The event conducted Monday evening inside Shawano Community High School was limited to adults only, and participants were required to sign a form acknowledging that they were warned to expect explicit content.
About 50 parents, teachers and others attended the free event.
Flashing pornographic images captured online during the live demonstration, Detective Sgt. Gordon Kowaleski of the sheriff’s department said parents and other caretakers need to understand the seriousness of permitting children free reign on laptops, cellphones and other online devices.
With images of nudity projected on a big screen behind him, Kowaleski said he never would have guessed the severity of online porn until he got started doing undercover sex offender stings for law enforcement.
“I think this is a shocker,” he said, referring to the live images displayed in the high school lecture hall. “This stuff is out there.”
Spectators said they turned out for the program in hopes of learning more about the phenomenon of Facebook and other social media sites, as well as steps they could take to protect children.
John Arens, a parent of three, said that while he has never detected any problems with how his children use online resources, he knows the hazards of kids making bad choices. He wants to stay ahead of any issues.
“I just really want to know, ‘Where is this going?’” Arens said.
Betty Raddant, a child day care worker, said she worries about how social media affects healthy early childhood development. Although not much of an Internet surfer herself, Raddant said she watches pre-teens use the Internet and post content to the general public with seemingly little regard for the consequences.
“Once it’s out there, it’s out there forever,” she said. “I don’t think kids realize what ‘forever’ means in their lifetime.”
Another parent, Kim Klement, said her three children, ages 12, 13 and 14, are regular users of cellphones or other electronic devices. All of the devices are programmed to shut down automatically at bedtime, but Klement said she worries about the content available to her children whenever they can access the Internet.
Saying she hoped to learn some new control methods at Monday’s program, Klement said of her kids: “They certainly get wrapped up in things that pull them in a different direction than I would want.”
During the 90-minute program, Detective Jesse Sperberg of the sheriff’s department listed sites where kids can unknowingly come across pornographic images, or find themselves being stalked by predators. Even sites as well known as YouTube or Craigslist can turn risky, Sperberg said, if parents have not talked with their kids about the importance of avoiding inappropriate content — and reporting it when it turns up.
Children exposed to sexual or violent content often feel ashamed, he said, so their parents never know about it.
“If they get scared, they’re going to hide it,” Sperberg said. “That’s why we need to have discussions.”
Recounting graphic details of online predators who have been caught pursuing kids in Shawano County, Kowaleski and Sperberg urged parents to make sure their kids do not use social media sites where they can interact directly with strangers, such as www.meetme.com.
The detectives also encouraged parents to become aware of all applications on their kids’ electronic devices, and also to set ground rules for online activities, such as not allowing a child to go online unsupervised.
“We’re in a day and age where we’ve got to start paying more attention,” Kowaleski said.
ONLINE
For more information about avoiding inappropriate content on the Internet, the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department recommends www.netsmartz.org.