KENNEWICK, Wash. – Technology in this era is almost unavoidable, especially when it comes to kids learning online. Children as young as 5 years old may have easy access to an unrestricted mobile device.
Sergeant Jarin Whitby from the Richland Police Department says it’s not just social media apps that parents should be concerned about, but online video games too, like Roblox.
“They can go navigate that game and meet people and everything else.. they meet a person who they think might be their age who then tells them to go to another site like Discord like Snapchat, things like that, next thing you know they’re having a conversation and if they’re a predator and that’s a child there, then they begin to exploit that child.”
This can lead to kids sending inappropriate photos and the predator can even threaten to post those images. This can cause harm to the child’s emotional and physical health.
Officer Whitby, who is also a part of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, says if you believe your child or grandchild is a victim of sexual abuse, or if you’ve seen an exchange of inappropriate images to call the police department and have them talk to the kids about those dangers and start an investigation if necessary. He also recommends parents keep in mind there are resources out there, in case their kids do fall victim of online sexual abuse.
One of them being the Support, Advocacy & Resource Center offers their services in Benton and Franklin counties. They also provide 24-hour client services for victims of sexual violence, crimes, physical assault plus offer preventive education and awareness.
Officer Whitby highly recommends parents sitting their kids down and talking to them about the dangers there are on social media and video games. He says they should be aware of the consequences that can come with engaging with people they do not know online.
