ASHLAND — Children and teens use the internet everyday for learning at school, doing homework, playing games, perusing and posting on social media.
A National Center for Health Statistics research article found roughly 50 percent of teenagers age 12 to 17 surveyed between July 2021 and December 2023 had 4 hours or more of daily screen time.
A 2024 Pew Research Center survey found most teenagers age 13 to 17 have a smartphone and social media apps. The survey also collected data on social media usage, it showed:
- 73 percent of the surveyed teens say they use YouTube daily.
- 60 percent visit TikTok daily, with 16 percent reporting almost constant usage.
- 50 percent saying they visit Snapchat or Instagram every day.
- Across all five social media platforms included in the survey (Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and TikTok) one-third of teens used at least one of the sites almost constantly.
But teens aren’t the only ones who use these apps, younger children and adults also frequent the platforms.
With more children online and spending more time on the internet, the amount of cyber crimes against children has also increased.
“Offenders recognize, number one, that there are a lot of victims on the most popular social media sites. Number two, it’s easy for them to integrate themselves into those platforms, whether through a fake account, whether because children are just putting out so much personal information,” Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Commander Dave Frattare said.
“So, oftentimes parents are surprised when we start talking about Tik Tok, Snapchat and Instagram as the place where a lot of this victimization occurs.”
Frattare said Tik Tok, Snapchat, Instagram, Discord and Google were the top five tip submitters in Ohio last year, and the number of tips has only increased.
“We’d like to identify offenders before they interact with children, but more often than not, we’re reacting to the tips that are coming in. When I started here in 2009, we received 649 tips for that entire year in 2009. Last year alone we saw 42,294 tips,”
Ashland and Richland counties have seen a recent increase in cases involving adults victimizing children online, including:
- Brandon Mosher, who received a 34-count indictment from an Ashland County grand jury on charges that include pandering sexually-oriented matter involving a minor or impaired person, illegal use of minor or impaired person in nudity-oriented material or performance and pandering obscenity involving a minor or impaired person.
- Iann Christopher Simmons, who pleaded not guilty to two counts of gross sexual imposition, two counts of grooming and one count of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles. The alleged victims were 11 and 12 years old, according to a press release from the Loudonville Police Department.
- Bryce Witchey was sentenced to 19.5 to 23.5 years in state prison by Richland County Common Pleas Court Judge Brent Robinson following the conviction of possession of a pornographic image of a child having sex with an adult and an attempt to have sex with an 8-year-old child, among other charges.
How to prevent these crimes
Frattare emphasized the importance of open communication with children about their online activity and consistent monitoring of their devices as soon as they start using them.
“If you as a parent are not monitoring, you’re not having conversations, then your kids are going to have conversations with other people on the internet. And some of them may be other children, but more often than not, it may be adults who are looking to harm those kids.”
Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Commander Dave Frattare
“If you as a parent are not monitoring, you’re not having conversations, then your kids are going to have conversations with other people on the internet. And some of them may be other children, but more often than not, it may be adults who are looking to harm those kids,” Frattare said.
He also said parents need to ensure their kids understand digital stranger danger is just as important as real-life stranger danger.
Kids who are chatting on sites like Roblox need to understand they don’t know the identity or age of the people who they are messaging; even if they say who they are, there is no way to know if that person is telling the truth.
“It’s when you communicate with complete strangers, that that’s where we start to see some of these major problems,” Frattare said.
Frattare said Ohio ICAC gives roughly 200 presentations a year to schools and community groups about internet safety.
“We’ve found from research that the more often we can put this in front of kids, the better we all are. And oftentimes it’s the teachers, the nurses, the school resource officers: they’re with these kids every day. And so our hope is that they can continue to have these conversations,” Frattare said.
If a school or agency is interested in a local presentation, they can contact the statewide outreach coordinator at (216) 698-3151 or request a presentation online.
Resources for parents
The following list provides resources where parents can find materials to further teach their children about online safety:
- NetSmartz provides presentations, tip sheets, classroom activities and free online, on-demand trainings related to prevention education. There are also specific resources for social media and gaming safety.
- The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force S.M.A.R.T parenting tips sheet.
- Common Sense Media offers reviews and ratings of apps, games and social media platforms for children based on their age. The website also provides articles for parents with background about certain platforms and how to adjust parental controls on them (if applicable).
- Report any child exploitation, online or in-person, to the CyberTipline. Exploitation can include someone chatting with a child about sex, unwanted sexual messages, sexual images/videos and more.
- There are softwares that can limit children’s internet access:
- Bark uses AI to scan texts, emails and 30+ social platforms for signs of grooming, and allows for parental control of apps.
- Google Family Link allows parents to approve app downloads and set “school time” limits to prevent late-night browsing on Android devices and Chromebooks.
- Norton Family blocks specific categories of websites, monitors search history and implements time limits.
- Apple Screen Time is a free feature built into Apple device’s settings. It can set app limits, schedule time away from devices, detect nude photos before they’re sent on a child’s device and prevents children from viewing nude photos sent to them.