MARSHALL COUNTY, W. Va. (WTRF) – All 5th and 6th grade students throughout Marshall County attended a presentation on internet safety Monday afternoon.

Internet Safety Speaker

and author, Jesse Weinberger, hosted two sessions at John Marshall High School’s Center for Performing Arts where she went over the basic “dos” and “don’ts” of navigating the internet.

Some of the core topics of her presentation to the students included an age appropriate discussion about cyberbullying, sexting, and the dangers of sexual predators on the internet.

During her time with the students, she anonymously collected data to use for the presentation with parents and community members scheduled for March 18 at 5:30 at the same location.

“What I’m seeing in school, over school, over school is extremely young porn consumption beginning starting at age eight. Porn addiction begins at age 11. Kids are owning devices as young as second grade. The rate of sexting (that is sending inappropriate pictures) starts between third and fourth grade. It has nothing to do with whether your kids go to a Catholic school, a private school, poor district, rich district, or boarding school. It’s all the same. And the reason it’s all the same is that the unifying factor is the fact that these kids own devices way too young. My rule is no phones under 13. And indeed, the federal guideline COPPA, that’s the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, says no social media allowed under 13.”

Jesse Weinberger | Internet Safety Speaker and Author

Weinberger also talked about loneliness, depression and anxiety with the students, explaining how increased screen time can also increase these mental health struggles.

“We know for a fact that the higher the time spent on devices, the higher the rates of depression and anxiety. That’s already been proven,” she said. “I’m going to talk to them about what apps they should use, and which apps they shouldn’t.”

The biggest takeaway Weinberger wants kids to learn from her presentation is to disconnect from the online world and engage with the real world.

“I tell the kids about 35 times to eat more dirt because I think it’s just good for roughage. We’ve lost the gift of boredom and creativity. Go outside, create a game. Go outside and play with your friends. Make up a game. We’ve lost that. And that’s a big thing. The less time they spend on devices, the happier they’ll be.”

Jesse Weinberger | Internet Safety Speaker and Author

The parent session will cover the same topics talked about with the students (sexting, cyberbullying, etc.); however, their session will look into parent complicity, neurological impacts, sex trafficking, as well as different apps parents should be on the lookout for on their kids’ devices.

“I’m going to go over 20 different apps, I will also provide handouts to parents that includes information on how to ‘put the genie back in the bottle’ if you’ve already given your kid a phone,” Weinberger said.

“This is an all-hands-on deck parent event. And if you as a parent are watching this and think that you don’t need to be there, that’s the sign that you need to be there, because that means you don’t know what’s going on.”

Jesse Weinberger | Internet Safety Speaker and Author

She went onto explain that parents can make a few small changes that can significantly increase their child’s safety because predators often go “for the low hanging fruit.”

“It needs to be a family approach. Everybody needs to figure out how to use this technology in a way that enhances our life, not damages our families, damages our interaction with people that we love, and not damages our mental health.

Jesse Weinberger | Internet Safety Speaker and Author

Anyone in the Ohio Valley is welcomed to join Weinberger’s presentation. Her advice to parents is to just show up on March 18 and she’ll take care of the rest.

“Parents just get your butt in the seat. I will help you if you show up. If you don’t show up and something happens to your kid, don’t ‘boo-hoo-hoo’, because you had this opportunity which was free, and you didn’t take it. So, I will help you if you’re here. If you’re not here, you’re on your own.”

Jesse Weinberger | Internet Safety Speaker and Author