Seminars highlight online safety

AMORY, Miss. (WCBI) – One wrong, or careless decision online or on social media can have devastating consequences.

That’s why the Amory School District brought in Richard Guerry in for two seminars.

Guerry is founder of the non-profit Institute for Responsible Online and Cellphone Communication, or IROC 2.

He encouraged parents to know what apps their kids use and with whom they are interacting.

“People don’t realize things you upload on social media, even if they disappear, even if you delete them, they’re always kept, they never go away,” said Deidre Robertson, who makes no apologies for keeping close watch on her child’s cell phone and computer activities.

She believes it’s important for parents to do whatever they can to not only make sure their children use social media wisely, but to also prevent cyber bullying.

“All it takes is one share, so if you have 150 friends, then 150 people see it, one click,” said Robertson.

Whether it’s cyber bullying, or sharing or receiving inappropriate material, the counselor at Amory Middle School said she’s dealt with students everyday who are impacted by the dangers and pitfalls of social media.

“It is a daily issue, everyday, I have one to two kids if not more who come in with something, that they have found a video of somebody, or somebody put out a video of them, somebody texted through Snapchat or something and sent them a bad message, threatened to hurt them or fight them at school,” said Amory Middle School counselor Cristy Gruchy.

Gruchy is hopeful the seminars will help parents and children open windows of opportunity with digital technology, instead of closing them.

The seminars take place Thursday at 6 p.m. and Friday at 9 a.m. at Amory High School.

The seminars are free and open to the public.