Burbank students hear from cybersecurity expert about how to be more mindful online

Lori Getz, a cybersecurity education specialist, told an audience of about 60 Burbank students and parents last week that their households’ rules about using the internet need to look more like what children are told before they leave the house.

Most teenagers are not allowed to walk out their front door at night without telling their parents where they’re going or who they’re going to see.

In the same vein, minors shouldn’t be allowed unfettered internet access behind closed doors at night, Getz said.

“The only true unsafe thing about the internet is when kids hide what they’re doing on the internet from their parent,” she said.

The lecture was paid for by Luther Burbank Middle School as part of an ongoing consultant contract with Getz, who will train teachers and administrators on how to manage students’ use of social media and speak with students at a future assembly.

However, parents from other Burbank schools attended and said they’d like to see Getz also speak at their students’ schools.

While digital devices are widely used by children to socialize, study and be entertained, Getz said it’s important for parents to examine whether their child has the emotional intelligence to act responsibly online before getting them a digital device.

The first lesson Getz imparted is that social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok track every post and comment users leave, even though students might think they are using private accounts.

In one extreme case, a group of sixth-grade boys thought it would be funny to create an anonymous Instagram account, post photos of their genitals and invite their classmates to match the boys with the illicit photos, Getz said.

The mother of a girl in their class reported the incident to police and, within an hour, officers were able to locate the boys using an IP address at the house where they were having a sleepover.

The boys escaped prosecution for exposing themselves but were sentenced to three years probation and, during that time, they were banned from using digital devices.

This is a cautionary tale for children and parents about the real-world consequences of failing to think about the ramifications behind posting on social media.

“Even though there isn’t always a legal consequence, there is an emotional consequence for sharing your body in a way you don’t have control over,” Getz said.

Getz also shared that she and her husband have decided to keep smartphones out of their bedroom and their children’s bedrooms at night.

The illuminated screen tricks the brain into thinking it is daytime, and the urge to respond to one more text message or watch one more Youtube video prevents teenagers from getting the recommended 9½ hours of sleep a night.

Instead, Getz said her family keeps their phones in a communal charging station overnight.

Although it may seem unthinkable for some teenagers to share the passwords to their social-media accounts with their parents, Getz said it is important for parents to come up with a plan in case their children ever go missing.

This could entail sharing a password list with a cousin or close friend. Getz’s children wrote their passwords on pieces of paper and then put them in a ceramic piggy bank that could only be opened by smashing it.

Last November, Getz smashed the family’s piggy bank because her daughter didn’t answer her phone after patronizing the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks on the night 13 people were killed by a shooter.

Fortunately, Getz was able to use the password to locate her daughter’s phone and learned she left the bar before the shooting.

Burbank Middle School Principal Oscar Macias credited the Burbank Unified school board for being open to bringing in a cybersecurity expert to educate parents, students and teachers.

“We always have to be on top of it and be more informed,” Macias said. “This is an important topic, but it’s not my thing, so plug your board of education and principals if you want to see more of this.”

Daniel Langhorne is a contributor to Times Community News.