Gang, Bullying Seminar: The Internet is the New Playground

The internet is today’s playground – and no child or teen is safe from online predators.

So said Det. Sgt. John Sumwalt of the Suffolk County Police Department’s computer crimes unit on Thursday at a conference organized by the East End Gang Awareness Committee and held at the and Exhibition Center.

The conference, “Building A Safe Community,” is in its tenth year, with educators, members of law enforcement, medical professionals and counselors among the scores that attend with an eye toward violence prevention and keeping today’s youth safe from gangs, drugs, and other dangers.

“My entire role is to protect children from predators,” Sumwalt said.

The internet, he said, has opened a new Pandora’s box of evils, with chat rooms rife with child pornographers and gangs using the internet to lure new recruits.

Parents should be aware that gangs are using the internet to recruit young members. 

“People think there are no gangs in Suffolk County,” he said. “They are here.”

Cyberbullying and sexting are on the rise, Detective Sumwalt added, doing untold emotional damage and continuing to haunt young people years after a text or photo was posted online.

“We get phone calls every day, asking ‘How do I get that picture back?’” he said. “There is no getting it back.”

While bullying itself is nothing new, the face of bullying has changed, Det. Sumwalt said; in the old days, bullies would gather in the school yard and belittle their targets. Now, behind computer screens, the bully can be a geek tormenting a football star - at any hour of the day.

“Even the home is no longer a safe haven,” Detective Sumwalt said. “The internet is the new playground.”

Cyberbullying can cause depression, anxiety, social isolation, low self esteem and a decline in school performance. Twenty percent of youth who have been cyberbullied have thoughts of suicide, Sumwalt said, adding that suicide is the third leading cause of death among individuals under 18, with 4,400 young people committing suicide last year alone. And, for every successful suicide, there are 100 tries, Detective Sumwalt said. “Kids are driven to the point of no return.”

Some bullies, who might wish they could retract statements, are unable to do so.

“There’s no back button,” Detective Sumwalt said. “Once they’re out there, they’re out there.”

Thursday's conference came in the wake of a recent ruling finding Rutgers student guilty of intimidating a roomate and invasion of privacy, among other counts, after he videotaped his roommate engaged in sexual activity with another man. The videotaped student, Tyler Clementi, jumped off the George Washington Bridge, killing himself, after the video was released. Dharun Ravi was found guilty on 15 counts and faces 10 years in prison at a sentencing in May.

“By the time he’s serving time he’ll realize this wasn’t a joke,” Sumwalt said.

In light of all this news, the question remains: How do parents protect their children?

“It’s important to protect your password,” Sumwalt warned, adding no one should give out private information on the internet. Phones or computers with GPS systems can help a predator track down a child’s location and personal information in minutes.

Evidence should be kept; an electronic trail aids a police investigation.

Suffolk County police will be focusing efforts less on speaking to elementary school audiences  –although districts can still request police to come in and address students – and more intensively on addressing middle and high schoolers.

“We’ve created a graphic, in your face presentation for high school students,” added Sergeant Damian Germain of the Suffolk County Police Department’s community response unit. “Our goal it to get to as many high schools as possible.”