Story posted Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Officer To Speak To Teens About Safety On Internet
The Niles Teen Center speaker series continues tomorrow (Thursday) with a talk by Niles Police Sgt. Robert Tornabene on Internet safety at 5:30 p.m. Police spokesman Sgt. Tom Davis said Tornabene would discuss the dangers of putting too much personal information on social networking websites such as Facebook.
Davis said not everyone claiming to be another teen actually is and those people might not have the best of intentions. Updating a status on Facebook to say a teen is on vacation could give thieves the knowledge there is an empty house able to be robbed, said Davis. Potentially embarrassing photos, once on the Internet, can be saved and reposted even once they are deleted from a website essentially meaning once posted they never go away.
Davis said instant messages and emails lack the expression of verbal communication leading to misunderstandings.
Last year's expansion of the Teen Center into an adjacent storefront in Golf Mill Shopping Center added 1,001 sq. ft. to the center allowing for expanded programming.
State Rep. Elaine Nekritz (D-57th) was the first in the center's speaker series. Nekritz spoke to about 15 teens about her work as a state legislator last month.
Teen Center Director Mark Williams expects a higher turnout at Thursday's event saying there were several conflicting area high school and junior high events happening at the same time last month.
Mayor Robert Callero is scheduled to talk to teens about local government at the center on Thursday, Feb. 18 and representatives from Niles Family Services will discuss conflict resolution at the center on Thursday, Mar. 18.
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