By CAT SANDOVAL
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
Hamilton Southeastern High School, where Hailey Buzbee attended, hosted an online safety presentation on Wednesday night.
Buzbee was reported missing on Jan. 5, sparking a search that garnered national attention. Police later discovered her remains in Perry County, Ohio, prompting an outpouring of support from friends, coworkers, and the community.
Tiffany Preston, a former assistant U.S. attorney with 17 years of experience with internet crimes against children, used the cases she’d worked on to provide parents with helpful approaches.
“I think the community is obviously experiencing grief, anger, and a lot of fear,” Preston said, “and when that happens we can take what we know about Hailey’s case and we can use that to empower the community and give them the information they need so this never happens again to a kid in this school or any school.”
Unfortunately, Preston said, predators use psychological tactics to get to kids, and they get them within minutes. Predators can target children and teens the most between the hours of 3 and 5 p.m., when school is out and when parents are at still at work. She said victims can be anyone including a good student and someone from a two-parent home.
“But again, it’s important to realize, especially when it comes to victims of financial sextortion, they go through kids sometimes within minutes of threatening them, and it’s causing self-harm, particularly with young athletes,” Preston said. “I’m trying to get that message across because this happens to boys, too, particularly athletes, and they are the least likely to disclose and the most likely to harm themselves.”
Preston covered unsafe online interactions and safety measures parents can use. She says it’s never too early to talk to kids about the dangers online.
She shared that wherever your kids are online, predators lurk. Parents can restrict apps usage. Parents can also go through a phone’s battery usage to locate hidden apps on a phone. There were so many tips and resources that parents were furiously taking notes and taking photos of her presentation.
Preston said the most important takeaway is that children should know they can come to a parent or a trusted adult with anything, even if that child thinks are in trouble. Shame, fear, and secrecy are what prevents a child from speaking up.
Parent Eva Hutson took that to heart. “I won’t be disappointed if they make a mistake. And that there’s no mistake they can possibly make that I won’t be there for them.”
Conversations about online safety may be hard to discuss for some families but the educators here hope they can start that conversation.
The high school provided additional resources were provided:
- Common Sense Media (provides age-based ratings and reviews for movies, games, books and apps).
- Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health (supports youth mental health as they navigate through social media).
- THORN (helps caregivers navigate digital safety and prevent online sexual abuse).
- Internet Matters (provides downloadable age-specific guides and prompts for parents to talk about cyberbullying, pornography, and safe gaming).
- SAMHSA Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (provides best practices and conversation starters about online behaviors and mental health).
- Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children’s Task Force (includes parenting tips, and victim and family resources).
This story was originally published by WISH-TV at wishtv.com/news/crime-watch-8/former-assistant-us-attorney-shares-tips-with-parents-to-prevent-online-crimes.