Dec. 2 event to focus on Internet safety

By Elna Seabrooks
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — Protecting Houlton’s children from potential predator exploitation and abuse will be the subject of an Internet safety presentation by the Houlton Police Department, Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 6:30 p.m. in the Southside School cafeteria. Chief Butch Asselin says a child’s “computer skills can develop faster than their capacity for common sense. The safest kids on the Internet are those whose parents have invested time in making them street smart.”
Internet tragedy
    Recently, a south Florida teen, who overdosed on drugs, reportedly streamed his death live via a webcam on the Internet while others watched. Accounts vary as to whether or not anyone encouraged him to kill himself and how many were watching.
    Internet use in America alone has nearly doubled in the last eight years to more than 220 million people online. That translates to about 72 percent of the total U.S. population according to the media research and analysis company Nielson Online, a service of the Nielson Company which is known for measuring television audiences. Worldwide, nearly one and a half billion people use the Internet. Those statistics include users of legitimate informational and educational Web sites as well as predators, young and old, who victimize naïve youth and inexperienced adults.
    Asselin also says: “The Internet can be a dangerous place for those who have not learned to use it safely.  We live in an era where children are more adept with computer technology than parents. Parents often fail to make a connection that using technology requires more that just basic computer skills.” Officers Steven Nason and Ezekiel Collins will make the presentation with guidelines for parents to share with their children.