Quincy Schools, Agencies Urge Parents to Address Online Risks as 10% of Scam Reports Involve Minors
Updated
Updated · khqa.com · Aug 11
Quincy Schools, Agencies Urge Parents to Address Online Risks as 10% of Scam Reports Involve Minors
3 articles · Updated · khqa.com · Aug 11
Summary
Quincy schools and agencies are using the back-to-school period to press parents to talk with children about online dangers, including scams, cyberbullying and predators.
About 10% of scam reports to the Better Business Bureau involve targets under 18, and officials said AI is making scam texts and emails aimed at children easier to produce.
Quincy Junior High's principal said schools are already seeing fallout from heavy tech use—cyberbullying, weaker empathy, poor socialization and students arriving tired after staying up late on phones.
Officials warned many parents may not know what children are doing online because some use fake accounts, app-hiding tools and burner phones, underscoring advice to monitor access and avoid sharing personal information.
With schools implementing strict bell-to-bell phone bans, will cutting off digital access solve cyberbullying or just push the hidden dangers further underground?
If students are already using burner phones and hidden apps, does strict parental monitoring actually create safer kids or just better liars?
How are hackers weaponizing the very parental control apps designed to protect children to lock families out of their own digital lives?