Rep. Miller hosts informative social media presentation
While eating Tide pods may be the main headline about how young people use the internet, state Rep. Dan Miller wants to raise awareness of a more common and persistent danger: improper use of social media.
Miller, a former public defender, hosted Phil Little from the state attorney general’s office April 4 to talk to a group of parents at Keystone Oaks Middle School.
“In Harrisburg we talk about a variety of things in relation to the types of threats that our kids are dealing with,” said Miller, D-Mt. Lebanon. “There’s a lot out there, but we want to educate you on the latest issues that you need to be cognizant of.
Little, an education and outreach specialist, then spoke to the parents about different social media apps, including Snapchat, Instagram and Musical.ly, and how to use them safely.
“There are hundreds of social media apps,” Little said. “The mindset we have that we should be looking at one that can be a danger. Not one social media is bad, but when it’s misused, that’s when they become a problem. The way they use the social media is what we should be talking about.”
Little said it’s crucial to understand that a cell phone is no longer what a cellphone used to be.
“The computing power of that thing we put in our child’s hands, it’s not just a phone, it’s a super computer,” Little said. “That super computer has more computing power than what NASA had in the 1960s to put Neil Armstrong on the moon. We’re putting this powerful super computer in our children’s hands without any proper changing of how to use that device.”
Understanding digital footprints, Little said, is vital to telling young people about how nothing truly ever disappears once it’s out on the internet,
“There is a trace for everything. Our children are aware that digital footprints exist, but to what extent they simply do not know,” Little said. “That’s something as a parent I would talk to my kid about. What information are you putting out there? What are you letting people know about yourself?”
Little urged parents to go through their children’s settings on their apps to make sure they are using them safely.
“Once we click on the settings, we have two things we can do to keep ourselves safe…Limiting who can see the media you are putting out there and who can contact you,” Little said.
He also informed the group of parents that most kids don’t use the text messaging app, but rather use the in-house text function of several social media apps to communicate with friends.
There are even some apps, Little said, that kids download to hide media from their parents called “secret apps.” For example, some apps are disguised as a calculator and require a passcode to enter in to see saved pictures and videos.
“A secret app is a dummy app disguised in everyday applications,” he said. “It allows you to hide media in there that would not then appear in your normal photo or camera reel.”
Little also suggested that parents know the passwords to their kids’ social media accounts.
Miller ended the session by telling parents that it’s important to be honest with children about social media and why regulating their usage is necessary.
“The actions that our teens make can be very serious to them and to others and can have an impact past their schooling,” Miller said.