Students learn the dangers of the Internet

October 27, 2010

Why does a 35-year-old man want to meet a 13-year-old girl?

Not for any good purpose.

That was the message Mayfield seventh and eight grade students heard from New York State Police inspector Jeff Scholz on Oct. 26, during his presentation on Internet safety.

Scholz spoke about the dangers of social media and how pictures on the Web can spread around the world in just a few days.

 “We’re going out once or twice a week to a school to get a cell phone because there’s inappropriate material on it,” he said.

 “In one case, a student took pictures of himself and posted them on the Internet. There are a lot of inappropriate pictures out there and the use of modern equipment makes it easy to put ithem on the Web.”

He also told students about the many local instances where strangers try to take advantage of children via the Internet. The students listened intently – many times raising their hands to ask questions – as Scholz painted a not-so-pretty, but realistic picture of what goes on.

“There is really no typical profile for a pedophile. Most are employed and have degrees. These are people who you wouldn’t expect, and people who are going to try and gain your trust,” he said. “We’ve arrested a 36-year-old man in Saratoga County for uploading pictures of underage girls, and a 32-year-old guy in Gloversville for uploading pictures of underage boys.

“We have undercover investigators who go online and pose as kids…We do at least one arrest a month.”

Scholz showed students a screen capture of a Yahoo chat room from 1999 and how in just a short amount of time, a predator can obtain information from a child. The screen capture showed a man with a screen name of “Malldaddy” talking to 13-year-old girl. The first question he asked: “Do you like guys my age?”

In six minutes, he found out where she lived, where she went to school, and what mall she went to with her friends. At the beginning of the conversation, the man said he lived in Michigan. By the end, he changed it to Binghamton.

He even asked her if she was law enforcement.

“You’re on there and talking to people, but are they really who they say they are? If you’re talking to someone you don’t know, chances are, you are talking to that guy,” Scholz said.

“These people will try to make a victim of you and will do it quick. This guys knows what he’s doing is wrong. They have a drive in them they can’t control; and it’s so bad, they’re going to make a victim out of a kid.”

At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 30, Scholz will put on another presentation on Internet safety for parents at the Mayfield High School auditorium. All parents are welcome.