By Sen. Devlin J. Robinson
Every year around this time, parents focus on getting their children ready for another school year. They buy school supplies and prepare for the return to homework and after-school activities.
This year, I hope families will spend a little time preparing for something else: The online world their children enter every day.
For many students, social media is as much a part of life as it is the classroom. It allows them to stay connected with friends and share experiences, but it also creates opportunities for cyberbullying, exploitation, and abuse. Not only do smartphones and apps cause issues with attention and focus in the classroom, – which I seek to address with my legislation to implement a statewide bell-to-bell cellphone ban in schools – but these devices also provide a gateway to a much more dangerous world where children can interact with strangers who seek to do them harm.
Combine this with the fact that teens spend an average of nearly eight hours on screens per day, and the need for awareness of the harms of smartphone and social media use has never been higher.
Technology has changed dramatically throughout the past decade, yet one thing has not: Parents remain a child’s first line of defense.
Pennsylvania’s Social Media Safety and Parental Awareness Week, observed this year from Aug. 17 through Aug. 23, was a reminder that online safety starts with simple conversations at home. Talk to your child which apps they are permitted to use. Emphasize the risks of communicating with strangers online. Make it clear that they should tell a trusted adult if someone asks for personal information, pressures them to send photos, or makes them feel uncomfortable. Those discussions may seem routine, but they can prevent situations that quickly become dangerous.
Unfortunately, we know there are people who deliberately use social media and messaging platforms to target children and teens. Law enforcement agencies across Pennsylvania investigate these crimes every day, but the volume of cases continues to rapidly grow while technology evolves just as quickly.
That is why I sponsored Alicia’s Law in honor of Alicia Kozak, a Pittsburgh-area resident who was abducted, sexually assaulted, and tortured at age 13 by a man she met online in what is recognized as one of the nation’s first documented internet-facilitated child abduction cases. The legislation is named in her honor to recognize her ongoing efforts to prevent other children from becoming victims of online predators.
The legislation would provide dedicated funding so investigators have the personnel, training, and forensic technology needed to pursue internet crimes against children. It recognizes that protecting children online requires more than awareness alone. Law enforcement must have the resources to identify victims and investigate offenders while working to stop abuse before more children are harmed.
However, no piece of legislation can replace the role parents play. Knowing who your child communicates with online and creating an environment where they feel comfortable speaking honestly remain some of the most effective ways to keep them safe. The goal isn’t to create fear around technology. It’s to help young people use it wisely while understanding that not everyone online has good intentions.
This school year, my office is preparing to host a school safety outreach event for families in our community. The program will focus on practical information and resources to help parents navigate today’s safety challenges. I encourage you to visit www.senatorrobinson.com to subscribe to my e-newsletter and follow my social media pages for additional details about this important event.
Keeping children safe isn’t just a responsibility for schools or law enforcement. It belongs to all of us. By staying engaged and giving our children the confidence to come to us when something doesn’t seem right, we can help them start the school year with the tools they need to stay safe, both in the classroom and online.
Sen. Devlin Robinson represents the 37th Senatorial District, which includes part of Allegheny County.