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Education Dive
FBI: Online learning raises risks of sexual exploitation
Shawna De La Rosa
March 27, 2020
Dive Brief:
As novel coronavirus closures force more schools to wade into the world
of online learning, the FBI is warning educators and families to beware
of online sexual exploitation, and urges parents and educators to teach
students about the risks and the signs. Children should also be taught
about safety and boundaries and be encouraged to have open
communication with parents and trusted adults.
Individuals may use online platforms to coerce youth into sharing
explicit photos or videos of themselves under threats of sharing images
with others. Offenders tend to make casual contact with children online
to gain their trust and then introduce sexual conversation that
increases.
The FBI says not only should internet safety should be discussed, but
that adults should review apps and games before children download them.
The agency recommends setting privacy settings to the strictest level
and to monitor children’s Internet use.
Dive Insight:
As schools transfer to online learning, educators must advise parents
on how to recognize warning signs of online abuse. Schools can share
information on apps such as securly.com that can be downloaded on
devices to show educators and parents students’ online activity. The
app detects threats like inappropriate sexual messaging or content
viewing, cyberbullying and self-harm.
The White Hatter organization provides resources and consulting for
students, educators and parents about online safety protocols. In
addition to presenting at school assemblies, its site has resources on
what to watch for including translations of shorthand lingo and dating
apps that work inside popular apps like Snapchat.
White Hatter also informs parents and educators about the latest
workarounds students use to hide illicit material. Vault apps, which
require passwords, and decoy apps, which have icons that appear
innocent, such as a calculator, are used to hide content. White Hatter
provides a step-by-step explanation on how to find these secret apps on
children's phones, a task some parents find daunting.
As more schools adopt the Zoom meeting platform, educators and others
must lock all the links. This week, hackers posted lewd and racist
content during a meeting with board members, students and parents of
the Conejo Valley Unified School District in California. Hackers use
this “Zoombombing” tactic to logs onto a publicly shared Zoom link to
post inappropriate information.
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