Newtown Parent Educates Others About Internet Dangers

By Susan Coney

Kevin Suckow, a Microsoft employee who has children attending Newtown Schools, recently volunteered his time and talents to educate other parents on how to keep their children safe when going on the Internet.

With the help of the Newtown School District and the Newtown Parent Connection, Mr Suckow offered two nights of Internet safety workshops for parents in the computer lab at Reed Intermediate School on Wednesday, March 29, and Thursday, March 30.

Each session was filled to capacity, providing each parent with a computer to work at while participating in the free workshop. Skills of those attending ranged from those needing assistance locating the start button to those who were very computer savvy. The workshop educated parents on what their children are exposed to in today’s high tech, fast track style of living. Mr Suckow walked parents through blogging, instant messaging, understanding how to research where their children have been surfing, and tools available to prevent children from accessing inappropriate sites or from being contacted by strangers.

Mr Suckow was stunned when the majority of the parents attending the workshops wanted his assistance to spy to see where their children had been on the Internet. Mr Suckow was adamant that parents know their children’s passwords. “You as parents need to set the tone as to what is right versus what is wrong. They [the children] may have the technology but what you have is wisdom; they just don’t have the judgment yet,” he said. “You take the power cord out of the computer; that’s what you do until they give you the passwords. The idea of doing nothing isn’t going to work. Unfortunately there is a lot of technology out there like AOL and MySpace.com, which promotes the concept that everything is acceptable. Every site pushes them to make friends with strangers,” Mr Suckow continued.

He stressed that it is not enough to take computer privileges away if kids do not cooperate by being truthful with passwords and the sites they surf. “The Internet is so accessible outside of the home, with the way cell phones are going; any McDonald’s or Starbucks has Internet hookups,” he said. Mr Suckow continued by saying that parents are asking their kids to take too much responsibility by not discussing and educating them about what is safe, appropriate, and inappropriate when dealing with the Internet.

He demonstrated the vulnerability children are exposed to by showing parents two photos taken of a girl outside her home posted on a popular website. The girl posted the pictures herself but did not disclose any personal information. Showing his expertise on the computer, Mr Suckow was able to locate the girl’s name and address within seven seconds of pulling up her pictures simply by clues in the photographs. He emphasized that too often unsupervised Internet use leads to stalking, cyber bullying, and sexual predators.

Mr Suckow did walk parents through click by click to look up the histories to see where their kids have been on the computer. He showed them how to put up preventative screens.

A handful of parents felt uncomfortable asking their children for their passwords; but Mr Suckow continued to stress that spying does not teach responsibility and does nothing to protect the child.

He felt very strongly against allowing children to use web cameras in chat rooms stating, “There is no legitimate reason for them. Web cams look like a toy but they are not!”

Workshop attendee Deborah Hoffmann stated, “The statistics regarding sexual predatory activity and the insidious ways these predators gain access to our children is frightening. A workshop like this, that arms us who are not nearly as comfortable as our children with computers and the Internet, is invaluable. I feel like I just took a big leap forward in being able to protect my kids by knowing what to do technically, but even more importantly, knowing better what I need to teach them.”

Art and Ruth Rowe, who attended the workshop together, provided joint feedback stating, “The workshop was well organized and well presented. The aim was not to prevent children from using technology, but to promote responsible technology use among children. The staggering statistics cited in the class confirms that children share information over the Internet that could jeopardize their safety. As parents, we must realize that the information imparted in the class only fulfills its purpose if we apply it. Hopefully, parents will use the knowledge and expertise that Kevin provided to speak with their children about these issues and to reconfigure some of the settings on the family PC.”

Mr Suckow, who has served on the Newtown School Technology Committee, and who is active in the community and in Parent Connection activities, has offered to conduct an Internet safety forum for kids in the middle and high schools. He said, “I can tailor the presentation to being more geared toward making them aware of the dangers they put themselves in. There is a lot of danger facing our kids and we have to work together to try to keep them safe; it takes a village right?” Mr Suckow continued, “I’m not afraid to talk to their kids; they may be on the path to being stalked or worse.”

He commended the efforts of Newtown Parent Connection organizers Donna Deluca and Dorrie Carolan, as well as director of technology at Reed Intermediate School, Ken Royal, for their assistance in making the workshop successful. Mr Suckow hopes to bring workshops to those interested in the subject of Internet safety this coming fall.