MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - Summer is almost here and that means more children are at home connected to some type of technology whether it be a computer, laptop, tablet, or cell phone. It’s for that reason the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is reminding parents to monitor their children’s devices.
“If that device can connect to the internet and it can send and receive data, you need to be involved in that if it’s in your child’s hands,” said Sergeant Jeremy J. Burkett with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, law enforcement in Alabama saw an increase in child exploitation.
“If that child sends or receives some type of exploitation material of themselves or somebody else, then that qualifies. And that’s absolutely terrible. And we really want to be able to prevent that in every turn,” said Burkett.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency wants to remind parents to monitor their children’s devices - especially for apps that access location and could lead a potential predator to a child.
“Especially if they have some type of device that has an app on it, they don’t need to have any friends that you don’t know about. So if they get some type of weird friend request, because oftentimes online predators, that’s what they do, they’ll disguise themselves, they’ll use pictures and establish a false identity to be in the same age range as your child, when in reality, they’re actually an older predator out there preying on your children,” said Burkett.
Sergeant Jeremy J. Burkett with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency says there are a lot of parental controls that can be put in place, but most importantly parents must remain engaged.
“There are so many things that children can be exposed to now when it comes to technology, parents, absolutely one have to have the conversation with their children, be really involved in every device that their children come in contact with,” said Burkett.
Burkett says if your children will be at a friend’s home or even at camp this summer with access to the internet it is important to make sure the children that your child is around have the same controls in place.
The U.S. Justice Department gives these tips to help protect your children.
Copyright 2022 WSFA 12 News. All rights reserved.
