15 year old Nichole Cable in an undated photo. Photo Credit: Penobscot County Sheriffs Department
These are the stories that make me want to shake every single parent that I know and scream WAKE UP!!
Nichole Cable was a lovely 15 year old from Maine. The night before she was abducted and murdered, Nichole complained to her boyfriend that a man named Kyle Dube groped and physically assaulted her. She was able to get away.
But here’s what she didn’t know. Kyle Dube created a fake Facebook account and had been communicating with Nichole under a different name. Nichole did NOT know that the man she thought she was communicating on Facebook was actually Kyle Dube.
Nichole unwittingly set a date and time to meet Dube’s alter ego at the end of the driveway of her own home. Apparently this “other person” promised Nichole free marijuana. Nichole walked down to the end of the driveway where Dube jumped out of the woods wearing a mask.
Nichole didn’t make it out alive. Soul achingly sad.
Read the full story on Huffington Post
Wake up parents of tweens and teens
Where to begin? We need to get educated about internet safety, and then educate our children.
We have no idea what this poor child’s parents are going through. We have no idea if they warned this lovely young woman about risky online behaviors. The point is moot. She’s gone. But we have the opportunity, as parents, to learn from this story- right here, right now.
In the 10 years I’ve taught Internet Safety to parents, children, and school districts I’ve explained the risks ad nauseum. Some kids get it – some parents get it – some schools get it. A great many do not let it sink in: this can be you, this IS you.
So what can YOU do to keep your children and families safe?
- get educated so you can educate your children
- tell your children (until your tongue falls out) that they should NEVER EVER EVER meet someone in person who they have only met online because you have NO IDEA who you are really speaking with. Terribly sad case in point
- children should NEVER give out their personal information online (location, age, school district, etc)
- and the most obvious: children should NEVER “friend” someone online who they don’t know in real life
Say it, say it again, and then repeat.
If you feel like a CD stuck on repeat, then you’ll be doing this the right way. We’ve given children devices and walked away. We’ve assumed that a 15 year old girl (or 10 year old boy, or 19 year old woman) will have the sense to not be gullible or stupid.
They can’t – they don’t have the life experience to discern risky from cool, or skeptical from impolite.
The worst part about this story is that it is not the first and certainly will not be the last. Criminals and those who wish to do us harm will use whatever tools are at their disposal to carry out their plans. We have to be smart enough to be on the defensive and teach our children how to do the same.
Parents of teens WAKE UP! Fake Facebook account contributes to the abduction and murder of 15 year old Nichole Cable in Maine
Blog, internet safety15 year old Nichole Cable in an undated photo. Photo Credit: Penobscot County Sheriffs Department
These are the stories that make me want to shake every single parent that I know and scream WAKE UP!!
Nichole Cable was a lovely 15 year old from Maine. The night before she was abducted and murdered, Nichole complained to her boyfriend that a man named Kyle Dube groped and physically assaulted her. She was able to get away.
But here’s what she didn’t know. Kyle Dube created a fake Facebook account and had been communicating with Nichole under a different name. Nichole did NOT know that the man she thought she was communicating on Facebook was actually Kyle Dube.
Nichole unwittingly set a date and time to meet Dube’s alter ego at the end of the driveway of her own home. Apparently this “other person” promised Nichole free marijuana. Nichole walked down to the end of the driveway where Dube jumped out of the woods wearing a mask.
Nichole didn’t make it out alive. Soul achingly sad.
Read the full story on Huffington Post
Wake up parents of tweens and teens
Where to begin? We need to get educated about internet safety, and then educate our children.
We have no idea what this poor child’s parents are going through. We have no idea if they warned this lovely young woman about risky online behaviors. The point is moot. She’s gone. But we have the opportunity, as parents, to learn from this story- right here, right now.
In the 10 years I’ve taught Internet Safety to parents, children, and school districts I’ve explained the risks ad nauseum. Some kids get it – some parents get it – some schools get it. A great many do not let it sink in: this can be you, this IS you.
So what can YOU do to keep your children and families safe?
Say it, say it again, and then repeat.
If you feel like a CD stuck on repeat, then you’ll be doing this the right way. We’ve given children devices and walked away. We’ve assumed that a 15 year old girl (or 10 year old boy, or 19 year old woman) will have the sense to not be gullible or stupid.
They can’t – they don’t have the life experience to discern risky from cool, or skeptical from impolite.
The worst part about this story is that it is not the first and certainly will not be the last. Criminals and those who wish to do us harm will use whatever tools are at their disposal to carry out their plans. We have to be smart enough to be on the defensive and teach our children how to do the same.
Internet Safety for Parents: Being proactive is the only defense for your tweens, teens, and family
Blog, internet safetyIn the beginning (when the dinosaurs roamed) the big issues came as a result of the unchecked activity on AOL chat rooms. Chat rooms have always been fertile ground for would-be child sex predators.
We send our children off to their bedrooms with wi-fi and a laptop, tablet, or phone and consider them safe. They’re in their jammies after all.
The level of sophistication of social media platforms, multimedia devices (tablets and laptops), gaming systems (XBox Live), and of course telephones make connecting to anyone and everyone as easy as pushing a button.
Your single and only chance to protect yourself and your children is to become educated. New apps and social media platforms spring up literally daily and we have to keep up.
Over the years I have taught large groups (a few hundred at a time), and I’ve been asked by families to come do a “house visit” and reason with a child showing the beginning of at-risk behavior. I can put everything I’ve observed into two separate buckets:
Please spare me the “I have a good kid” speech. I’m sure you do. Congratulations. You must be very proud. In the meantime, assume he’s guilty and cross-examine him like he knows where Jimmy Hoffa is buried. Because I can pretty much guarantee that given the right circumstances he is not beyond taking a picture of his junk and texting it. Seriously.
Don’t ask your daughter if she’s using SnapChat. Snoop through her IPhone, confirm she’s using SnapChat, and THEN ask her if she’s using it. If her answer doesn’t perfectly match the intelligence you gathered, we have a problem. But to achieve this step you *must get educated*
Being one step ahead is the only shot we collectively have of coming out the other end of this mine field alive. Education is the only option – I know it’s time consuming and you might not be a techy person and (waaa waaa waaa) it’s just so hard, but it is what it is.
The train is coming whether we like it or not. You can get run over, let it roll past you, or hop on board. Oh, and by the way – your kids are on the train…but they didn’t notice you standing there because they were texting at the time.
Get on board people!