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Crime & Safety

Detective Schools Parents on Internet Safety

Det. Rick Wistocki of the Naperville Police Department's Computer Crimes Unit discussed cyber-bullying, online predators and how to protect children during Wednesday night's Keeping Kids Safe lecture.

Naperville Police Det. Rick Wistocki spoke to 100 parents during the 12th Annual Keeping Kids Safe program Wednesday night at the Municipal Center, discussing the dangers of cyber-bullying, file sharing and how to protect your children from online predators.

The Naperville Exchange Club along with the DuPage Child Abuse Prevention Coalition runs Keeping Kids Safe. The coalition aims to stop child abuse and domestic violence.

Since coming to the in 1988, Wistocki of the Computer Crimes Unit has noticed technology’s rapid progression. 

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Back then, there were no cell phones, texting, internet and file sharing sites for police and parents to worry about.

Now, technology has evolved to the point where kids gain almost unlimited access to ubiquitous items that can communicate to anyone, anywhere, at anytime.

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With cyber-bullying, Wistocki said that’s when someone is embarrassed, humiliated, harassed or tormented by another with an electronic device. About half of American children will experience cyber-bullying.

“We are inundated with cyber-bullying in our community,” he said.

Cyber-bullies will use social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Skype and Formspring.com, the latter site catering to aggressive behavior. With Formspring.com, kids can post unanimous messages publicly defaming one of their classmates.

This invasive form of bullying can be extremely emotionally damaging to a child, even possibly leading to suicide. Hilary Waltmire,16, hanged herself after a group of girls tormented her online, including sending a fake text from her boyfriend’s phone “saying” he didn’t want to date her anymore.

Cyber-bullies can also hack into e-mail or social network sites if a child logs into their home computer or laptop. The e-mail address and password could be saved on the computer, allowing cyber-bullies to hack into a child’s accounts.

If a child logs into a friend’s or classmate’s computer, Wistocki said that child should change their password by one character to protect their online identities.

The phenomenon has become so problematic that Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law the False Impersonation Statute, going into affect Jan. 1. The law makes it a crime for people to make social networking profiles and emails of real people without their authorization.

Wistocki said he and the Naperville Exchange Club’s Sherry Weinstein have also drafted a bill with the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office. The Hijacking Statute, if passed, would make it a cyber-crime if someone logs into or hacks your social network or emails and tampers with your information.

“It would be a felony,” he said. 

As for peer-to-peer file sharing, Wistocki said the problem is not only with music files being stolen. There can be malicious Trojans downloaded onto a child’s computer that will strip off personal information to a third party.

Another problem has to do with child pornography. Online predators can get pictures of children from Skype and even hack into their computer to see them at all times, he said.

Sexting pictures can also be uploaded onto these sites. With nearly 5 million predators online, Wistocki told parents these offenders could "groom" a child online or texting lewd conversation and masturbation. These offenders can abuse 250 victims in their lifetime while physically having sex with half, Wistocki said.

“Predators go where your children are,” the detective said, pointing out the popular online video game Call of Duty is where some predators lurk for boys.

One thing parents need to reinforce to their children is everyone online is a liar and can’t be trusted, Wistocki said.

He also said parents need to have open communication with their kids while having a healthy parent-child relationship. Moms can’t be friends with their children, and dads need to back up their wives in disciplinary decisions.

Mike Gazall of Naperville, a father of four with three teens, said he thinks there is a problem with accountability and parents ability to communicate well.

“One of the biggest things was stressing communication with kids and it wasn’t just about hiding in the background and waiting to catch them doing something wrong,” Gazall said. “These are teaching opportunities. As a parent, you are required to do some monitoring and controlling.”

Some tips for monitoring a child's phone or online activity:

If your child is cyber-bullied or sexually harassed on Facebook:

  • Go to the Offender’s profile page.
  • Move the cursor on Messages.
  • Leave the cursor there.
  • There will be an IP address on the bottom left hand corner. A person’s identity will be verified with a subpoena.
  • Write it down and don’t report it to Facebook (the site will remove it and destroy vital evidence).

If your child’s Facebook is suspected of being hacked:

  • Click on Account Settings.
  • Click on Security
  • Go to Active Sessions and leave the cursor on the town’s location. There will be a routing address. Write it down.

Computer and cellphone monitoring tools:

TrueCare.com (30-day free trial)

Mymobilewatchdog.com (30-day free trial)

To check for any social network content using a person's name:

www.pipl.com

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