Franklin Police Shares Tips for Parents

Published September 27, 2012

This year, Williamson County Schools launched its Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) initiative for grades three through eight. This exciting new program allows students to bring their own digital devices to school for use in the classroom.

While the program has seen early success, it's understandable that parents have questions regarding this progressive new move. Franklin Police Department Lieutenant Charlie Warner addressed two specific areas of concern and shared a few tips for parents in a recent letter to the community, which we've printed below.

How to protect devices from being stolen and what to do if it happens

While password protected screen locks might help to prevent someone from accessing the information in your device, it’s certainly not an effective deterrent from getting it stolen or something that would aid in its recovery.

There are apps available for Android and Apple devices that allow owners to remotely lock stolen or missing devices, sound an audible alarm, wipe and even track them. There are a few options to choose from, so checking into each of them, along with user reviews will help to ensure a good fit. Similar programs are commercially available for laptop computers. A trip to a computer store or chat with a Geek Squad guy will help parents understand their options.

Recording the serial number to everything you own is a great idea. A digital photograph, stored in a secure location is a quick way to help accomplish this. Engraving your driver’s license number, along with the two-letter state code, like TN, will help reunite lost or stolen property that police encounter with its rightful owner.

The only real way to ensure that your stuff stays yours is to be smart:

Never leave your valuables unattended at the gym, in a coffee shop or anywhere else, even for a minute.

Never leave valuables in plain view in your parked car, even when in front of your own home or in your driveway.

How to keep kids safe online

Markedly more important than protecting your tech-tools is protecting the kids who use them. Statistics show that one in three girls and one in six boys are sexually abused by the time they’re 18. One out of seven children receives an online sexual solicitation or approach on the Internet.

Here are a few ways parents can help their children stay safe online:

Get and stay in your kids’ business. Giving them their privacy will not keep your children safe.

Do not allow children to use their technology behind closed doors.

Set up parental controls available through your ISP.

Buy and install a parental monitoring program on your child’s device.

Routinely read your child’s sent and received e-mail and social media sites.

Talk frankly with your kids about appropriate on-line activity, and enforce strict consequences when the rules are broken.

For more tips on how to keep your kids safe online and ideas on how to start a conversation with them about Internet safety, visit www.netsmartz.org, and click on Parents & Guardians.