Assistant District Attorney Eileen Moriarty
MASHPEE – The Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office held a Cyber Awareness for Parents presentation on Thursday night at the Mashpee Public Library.
The presentation is part of the District Attorney’s Bullying/Cyber bullying Prevention program.
With children about to be out of school for the summer, organizers wanted to hold the event to educate parents about how to monitor and limit their kid’s use of social media and the internet.
Presenters included Cape and Islands Assistant District Attorney Eileen Moriarty, Community Outreach Coordinator Deb Martin and Mashpee School Committee member Chris Santos.
Organizers said that parents should watch for any apps that require GPS, posting about specific activities and making sure that their kids are not meeting up with people they’ve met online.
“We really want to make sure that they’re safe online,” said Martin. “The more that parents know about what applications are out there that their kids might be using and how they’re using them and whether it’s appropriate or inappropriate, can help keep everybody safe.”
In her presentation, Moriarty stressed that colleges, employers, scholarships and sports programs look at social media profiles and that children should watch what they post.
According to a 2012 Kaplan study, 80 percent of colleges use Facebook in recruitment and 25 percent of college admissions officers routinely check the social media pages of prospective students.
“We’re just trying to help families be aware of safety measures they can take and what to be aware of around the internet medium,” said Mashpee Public Schools CFC Coordinator Mary Wilson.
The District Attorney’s Office is advising parents to follow their children’s pages, create digital-free zones in their homes and update privacy and GPS settings.
By JUSTIN SAUNDERS, CapeCod.com Newscenter
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