Authorities with the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department would like to warn parents of teenage children about an account on the social media application Instagram, which depicts nude or partially nude photographs of females as young as 14-years-old.
Chief Deputy Shane Tucker said the department received complaints this week about photos of local high school age females being found on an Instagram account named Purge. The photos were allegedly taken by the girls and sent to private recipients, who then posted them to the account.
According to Mississippi Code 97-5-33, in order for a charge of child exploitation to be applicable, the children under the age of 18 must be depicted as engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
“There’s no criminal legal remedy to this act,” Tucker said. “Law enforcement is not going to be able to assist or charge anyone. The only option is to report the page and images to Instagram.”
Tucker urges parents to monitor their children’s electronic devices and anything they can use to transfer media.
“Explain to your female children that there’s no reason in the world to send anyone nude pictures,” Tucker said. “There’s always that chance it will end up somewhere online. Explain to young males that posting these type of pictures is not a decent thing to do and they should report or delete it immediately.”
An article on parenting.com suggests 13 tips for monitoring children’s social media:
–– No one younger than 13-years of age is permitted to join Facebook. Parents are urged to make sure their children stay away from the site until that age or until they are comfortable with their child having an account.
–– Ensure that the privacy settings for the Internet and Facebook are set to the strictest levels.
–– Filtering software is available to monitor children’s Internet usage and their cell phone, including the exact keys typed, time spent online and all activity in general. Computer programs include Net Nanny and PureSight PC. The software program My Mobile Watchdog enables parents to monitor their child’s cell phone.
–– Construct a list of rules regarding computer and Internet usage.
–– Learn a child’s habits so parents can become acquainted with the kinds of sites they frequent and the people they socialize with.
–– Keep the computer in a central location.
–– Warn children to avoid pop-up windows advertising free questionnaires, free giveaways and contests.
–– Monitor the pictures children are sharing via email, text and social networking site.
–– Be a good example of proper social media usage and demonstrate proper technology etiquette.
–– Limit the use of cell phones and set rules.
–– Educate children on what a digital footprint is and stress the permanence of the online world.
–– Maintain an open line of communication about online dangers, including strangers.
–– Parents are urged to educate themselves on the newest technologies in order to know what key features are included on the devices children are using.