KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As kids return to school or prepare to head back, parents are thinking about ways to protect their children at school and at home.
School security has been at a national forefront in recent months after tragedies such as the Robb Elementary shooting in Uvalde, Texas, shooting in May and, more locally, the Olathe East shooting in March.
Many schools districts in the Kansas City area announced plans for increased safety measures during the summer.
Olathe Public Schools have implemented a crisis-alert system among new safety measures, the Shawnee Mission School Board approved spending $250,000 dollars to add more locks in the vestibules of 44 district schools, and Center School District announced in July that students will be required to wear clear backpacks and the district was adding metal detectors at elementary and secondary schools, which also will be used for high school sporting events.
Parents don't seem to mind the changes as long as their kids are safe, but school isn't the only place where parents should consider protecting their kids.
Online, many kids are too young to understand about personal data, but protecting personal data is becoming a growing area of concern for parents.
Julie Talbot-Hubbard — the senior vice president of cyber-protection and identity at Optiv, a Denver-based security firm with an office in Leawood — offered KSHB 41 News a few tips to help parents make sure their children aren't sharing personal data with strangers.
She recommends that parents:
- Discuss with their kids about sharing their information and educate them about sharing personal info;
- Consider putting in parental controls on children's devices and monitor the apps they download;
- Educate their children about being careful showing their face on webcams.
Talbot-Hubbard suggested parents help their kids understand more about the data they are sharing.
"If they're old enough where they are playing video games or have their own phone, I would walk them through on what data they are sharing," Talbot-Hubbard said,. "I would focus more on who has access to those data. I don't want to frighten kids, but I would try to tell them that there are people who want your information for bad reasons."
Talbot-Hubbard said she's similar conversations with her own child, who loves video games.
"I try to educate my child on video webcam," she said. "I try to educate my child on who to turn his webcam on with and when he can and he can't. These are things children take for granted because they're enjoying themselves and having fun, and they don't understand the risks."
