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Junior high students in the Altoona Area School District were reminded to stay safe and stay smart while using the internet and social media during a presentation Tuesday by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office.
Danielle Moore talked with students about the Sticks and Stones program, which aims to change the way students think about bullying.
Moore said there are good tools on the internet for students to stay safe and support each other, but stressed there are also many dangers and opportunities for bullies and child predators to harm them, too.
"This generation is different because of online activity supplementing in-person activity," Moore said. "It's really online activity that's become the main social focus."
Sixth, seventh and eighth grade students were reminded about sharing personal information with strangers or agreeing to meet with anyone they don't know in real life.
"I know you know a lot of this," Moore said. "I'm sure you've heard it a million times before. ... It's just a reminder of staying smart and adding tools to your toolbox to make good decisions."
Moore said if students have an iPhone or Android device and upload pictures to social media, "indecent people with malicious intentions" can download those images and use the metadata to determine the student's precise location.
Moore urged students to turn off geo-location services on their photos and apps, and eighth grader Addison Carles said she didn't realize location data could cause serious safety concerns.
Bullying is no longer a push on the playground or a whisper in the hall, said eighth grade Principal Jerry Koehle, noting bullying has been transformed by the internet and social media.
He said a lot of the reported student conflicts on social media happen outside of school because it's easier to write hurtful words on social media or send text messages than it is to confront problems with other students in a professional manner at school.
"It's just an unfortunate circumstance of what students have available to them," Koehle said, adding sometimes students completely misinterpret the tone of a written message.
"Sometimes students get a vibe from the text through the message that truly is not there and oftentimes causes a major conflict," he said.
Koehle said whenever there is a conflict between two or more students on social media, school officials sit them down and try to talk things out instead of engaging with each other on social media.
Staying smart, Moore said, is about "protecting yourself from yourself."
She reminded students of how the digital footprint they leave behind on the internet can be traced by employers and college admission offices, even after posts are deleted or disappear.
"Even if a Snapchat disappears after you click it or after 24 hours on your story, it isn't actually gone," she said, adding there is a "reputational risk" to hurtful posts that also harms the perception of their schools, their sports team and other organizations they represent.
In compliance with the U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, many social media platforms require people to be at least 13 years old to register accounts. Some eighth grade students, who are of age, said they have Snapchat and TikTok accounts.
Moore also reminded students not to post inappropriate photographs of themselves, as they can be charged with crimes if they send photos of themselves in which their private parts are not covered by a swimsuit.
"Even if you're under 18, if you're taking those photos and you're sending those photos, that is a crime and you can get punished for that," she said.
She said there are plenty of adults -- like teachers, guidance counselors, coaches and principals -- who are willing to help and urged students to "always be willing and able to ask for help."
Carles and student Maura Thompson said, although they don't see it a lot, they know bullying is common and pledged to be kind to their fellow students on the internet and in person.
"I always report it (bullying) to a parent or I try to talk with somebody about it. That way that student can know about it and they can feel safer," Carles said.
Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.