By Mary Welander
State Rep., D-114
Mary Welander
I was thrilled in 2023 when my bill, “An Act Establishing the Crime of Harmful Communication with a Minor,” passed both chambers and was signed by Gov. Ned Lamont into law, ultimately becoming Public Act 23-123. The bill established parameters that would finally allow for predatory adults who purposefully mislead, coerce or have inappropriate communications with a child online to be prosecuted criminally.
I worked on that bill for years with my colleague from New Fairfield, Rep. Pat Callahan; we still reach out to each other whenever we see a report of someone charged with the crime our bill addresses.
Unfortunately, like with most online practices, the law is often lagging behind what is actually happening on most sites. We continue to see individuals purposefully using gaps in our legal system to exploit and harm children online.
While Sen. James Maroney has been leading the legislative fight to create more accountability, regulation and ultimately safer spaces online here in Connecticut, there continue to be companies and platforms where this dangerous and destructive behavior still occurs.
That’s why I am incredibly grateful that Attorney General William Tong has launched an in-depth investigation into child exploitation concerns on the platform Roblox to ensure that these companies are held accountable to the promises and expectations that are advertised to families.
The problem is that it is not just major gaming platforms that have these issues. Whenever there is an opportunity to have direct communication with a minor, predatory adults will show up. This happens on social media platforms, streaming platforms, community sites, even platforms that are coloring books marketed to very young children.
While we are continuing to try and address this kind of heinous behavior through legislation, criminalization and judicial actions, there are some important things that we as parents and trusted adults can do to help protect our kids.
The first is to be as aware as possible of what your child is doing online, and dangerous online trends (such as “764 network”), and any current tricks that are marketed to kids (like apps they can download to hide chat-based platforms so it looks like a calculator or another innocuous phone function). Then it is important to talk to your kids and make sure they understand what appropriate online communication is and establish rules for your household (such as only messaging people you know “in real life”).
Sometimes these conversations can be a little uncomfortable, but necessary to make sure that your kids are safe, and most importantly, ensuring they know that they can come to you if something happens to them. Kids are being targeted online, and they won’t be able to recognize some of the warning signs if we don’t talk to them about it.
Resources that can help can be found by going to the American Academy of Pediatrics Online Health and Safety Resources page. Locally, SOSA has tips on their FAQ page on how to have these conversations and what to do if this has happened to your child.
If I can ever be of any help, please reach out.