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Don’t give minors cellphones. Just. Don’t.

There’s a reason I think minors and cellphones shouldn’t mix. Well, lots of them. This is just one.

A 17-year old in Acworth, GA, US, has been arrested and charged with 8 counts of cruelty to children and 1 count of sexual exploitation of a child. How did he do it? He sent them a link in a text message that when activated installed malware that gave the guy access to the phone.

And the dirty pictures on the phones. Then he posted them to a child pornography website. The youngest victim identified so far is 14.

Children, and teens (yes, we adults know you think you know everything. Then why do teens keep doing this stuff over and over and over?), don’t have the experience, the savvy, to think these things through. A text with a link from someone you don’t know? DON’T BLOODY CLICK ON IT, NIMROD!

Read the article here. And if you or someone you know has had contact with “Maxi Focus Photography,” by all means call the Cobb County Police Department’s Crimes Against Children Unit at (770) 801-3470.

So the first lesson is: there are bad guys out there.
The second lesson is: kids do stupid things on their phones. It’s my opinion they shouldn’t be led to temptation – it’s going to find them, so try to minimize the risk. Judge your child by their maturity level before you give them a phone. Maybe just get them a feature phone – text but no camera or vice versa. And for FSM’s sake, TALK TO YOUR KIDS. Seriously. They just might listen.

Source: nakedsecurity.sophos.com
Picture: betterparenting.com (They think you SHOULD give kids phones, and here’s why.)

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