Springfield Police Host Internet Safety Presentation for Parents and Children

While his presentation concerned of up-to-the-minute technology, Tom Rich gave timeless advice. Rich said parents have to be involved in their children’s lives. He said children should be confident about themselves and nice to others. And he said everyone needs to be careful with your choices because their actions can effect your environment, positively and negatively.

In his hour-long talk at , Rich said that while new technologies are changing relationships, the underlying facts are the same. He did not advocate for children to stop using Facebook or iPhones or for parents to withhold such devices until their 18th birthday. Instead, he urged caution and sensitivity.

“If you wouldn’t say it in person, don’t say it online,” Rich said during the presentation.

While Rich’s “Always Connected” cyberbullying and internet safety presentation is a private enterprise, he comes from law enforcement background. In his 15 years as a police officer, Rich specialized in internet safety and spent 10 years as a DARE officer where he learned of sexting as a rapidly growing problem.  In 2008, Rich launched a presentation about sexting that evolved into Always Connected.

In his presentation, Rich demonstrated how anonymity and lack of privacy can create dangerous environments for young internet and smart phone users. Rich said the default settings for devices like the Android phone and the Facebook social media website make it easy for personal information to spread across the internet. His website, Rich said, would soon include a guide to keeping that information safe.

Rich showed how the ease of sharing pictures and other information over the internet can lead to real world consequences ranging from mortifying embarrassment to severe legal ramifications.

“Just taking a [revealing] picture of someone under 18 is considered child pornography, which is a fourth degree crime,” Rich said, adding that showing that picture to someone else constitutes distribution of pornography, another fourth degree crime.

And new technologies can open up new avenues and techniques for abuse. He pointed to the Tyler Clementi trial, and noted that the case involved a form of bullying where the bully never said a single word directly to the victim. Dharun Ravi instead abused Clementi through iChat and Twitter.

“Talk about taking technology to a whole new level,” Rich said. “And talk about taking bullying to a whole new level.”

But, he emphasized, despite advances in technology, young people need to still follow old, accepted rules of social behavior.

“Kids have to understand they have to be nice,” Rich said. “You have the power to be good or bad.”

Introducing Rich, Springfield police chief John Cook said the presentation was prompted after reports of attempted luring incidents. Cook and Detective Matt Lynch, the Springfield Police Department’s Juvenille officer, said that Springfield residents have also been grappling with the sort of high tech dangers Rich focused on.

“Springfield is a nice town, but no area is free and clear of crime,” Lynch said. 

For more information on Rich and his program, visit his website.