Manistee Students Learn Dangers of Social Media

Monday, Manistee 6th-12th graders learned just how dangerous the online world can be. Michigan State Police held presentations in the High School auditorium, all day, teaching students about using social media and the internet.

Manistee High School senior, Raegan Codden, says the presentations are important to her because it’s a big issue with kids – affecting careers and reputations.

“A lot of social media platforms are all dangerous, especially for younger kids. Even me, being 17, I’m still getting odd messages, random messages, stuff like that. It really is everywhere. Like there’s not a place where it isn’t,” she says.

It’s not only important to watch their digital footprint. Social media challenges and trends have become dangerous, physically and mentally.

“Some of these other trends are really affecting people mentally,” Codden says. “Trends to have a certain body type, stuff like that. It really affects girls, and guys as well, like really affects how you look at everything else socially.”

Trends like Tide Pod Challenge or Devious Licks are on apps like Facebook, Instagram and Tik-Tok, encouraging kids to consume harmful substances or even physically harm others, even steal.

“I’ve seen many people having their mentality completely affected by social media and other social platforms,” says Codden. “I’ve seen a lot of people become more insecure seeing these social trends and sometimes even getting wrapped up in dangerous things from these spam messages.”

Michigan State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force present information to alert kids to the risks they might find online.

“We see kids that are responding to gaming systems online now,” says Carly Pitrago, Michigan State Police Computer Crimes Detective Trooper. “You might not always know them. It’s when they start messaging them personally or asking them for personal information. People are asking them for their birthday. It’s what school they go to or they’re sending those kids inappropriate messages.”

It’s not just social media where threats lie. Texting and online video gaming is also part of the problem.

“We also deal with teen sexting, which is big now, especially through Snapchat, where kids think that they might disappear,” says Detective Pitrago. “But there’s ways to screenshot and record and then those images are being spread out further.”

MSP troopers at the presentation say that in September they received 1,300 tips from the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children alerting to threats of child pornography in Northern Michigan. It was the largest number of tips they received since 2016.

“I can tell you that a couple of weeks ago, Tik-Tok sent the State of Michigan over 700 cyber tips of possible children in danger, sharing photos or videos and giving us information on suspects and victims to go investigate,” says Pitrago.

During Monday’s presentations, each age group received their owned tailor message on how they can spot dangers and also how to use the internet safely and for their benefit.

MSP says continuing the conversation at home is also part of keeping kids safe, everywhere.

“They don’t want their electronics taken away. They don’t want to be grounded. The biggest thing is to have that open communication with your children so that they know that this is a safe space. If somebody is bothering them, being inappropriate, making them feel uncomfortable,” says Pitrago.