Dangers – Siouxland Modern Media Committee

15Jan 2026 by Martin Van't Foort

Roblox

Apps, Cell Phones, Devices, Gaming, Hazards

”Allowing your child to have screen time is the norm in today’s age. Letting them play an online game that appears to be geared toward children may seem safe. Allowing a game where players interact with each other while sharing unique experiences seems innocent enough, right? But what if some of the other players they were chatting with were Satanic cult members?Roblox was specifically mentioned in the “grooming handbook” of the Satanic cult, called 764, as a place to find underage victims. The 20,000-30,000 members of this cult use sextortion to get what they want from their victims. They gain the children’s trust by “innocently” chatting while playing Roblox, eventually getting them to share explicit photos, and then threaten to share those photos if the children don’t do what the…

16Sep 2025 by nrcmmc

Distracted Parenting

Cell Phones, Devices

The Impact of Distracted Parenting: How Cell Phones Affect Our Relationship with Children In today’s fast-paced world, it’s hard to imagine a time when cell phones didn’t dominate our daily lives. While these devices have brought about countless conveniences, they’ve also introduced significant challenges, particularly for parents. The phenomenon of “distracted parenting” where caregivers prioritize digital interactions over face-to-face engagement has become a growing concern. The Rise of Distraction: Cell Phones and Parenting The arrival of smartphones brought a new wave of connectivity and entertainment. While they offer many benefits; their widespread use has led to an increasing phenomenon: distracted parenting. Whether scrolling through social media, responding to work emails, or playing games; many parents today find themselves regularly distracted by their phones, often during critical moments of family time.…

04Aug 2025 by nrcmmc

OnlyFans

Hazards, Pornography, Reviews

A sports website? Spoiler alert - it’s not. And it’s really unsafe for you and your family. OnlyFans is a website where users can upload content and offer it to the public for a set price. While some of the content is good, 98% of it is sexual in nature. The world today is hypersexual; therefore it is easy to offer sexual content at a premium price, due to the appetite for the general public to view that type of content. In some cases, the uploader can be persons we are familiar with; a friend, coworker, or even a relative. Persons uploading content to OnlyFans are often using OnlyFans content as a source for supplemental income. Some uploaders are making large amounts of money from the content they upload. OnlyFans…

04Mar 2025 by Martin Van't Foort

Review of Discord

Apps, Hazards, Resources, Reviews

Discord is a popular platform for voice, video, and text communication. Originally used by gamers as a way to communicate between different gaming platforms, the app is increasingly being used by people from various communities, including for educational purposes, hobbies, and professional groups - some companies are using it to replace Zoom. On Discord, users can create or join servers, communicate in real-time, and share content with other users of common interests. Besides posting to certain servers where everybody can see, users can privately message each other. Discord has several dangerous aspects which should be considered for user safety: Safety of young users - Protect Young Eyes and Bark emphasize that while Discord offers privacy settings, it can still present risks for young users. Since Discord allows people to create…

04Mar 2025 by Martin Van't Foort

Why Every Parent Should Watch the Gridshock Documentary

Events, Hazards

Why Every Parent Should Watch the Gridshock Documentary In a world where digital technology connects us all, there is a hidden crisis threatening the safety of our children—human trafficking. The documentary Gridshock exposes the dark reality of human trafficking in America, shedding light on how this criminal industry thrives in plain sight. For parents, understanding the risks and signs is crucial to protecting their children. This powerful film is not just an exposé—it is a call to action. What is Gridshock? Gridshock is an investigative documentary that uncovers the human trafficking epidemic in the United States, focusing on the demand-driven market. The film brings forward survivors' voices, law enforcement insights, and expert analysis to show how sex trafficking continues to plague communities across the nation. Through heartbreaking stories and shocking…

08Feb 2025 by Martin Van't Foort

Will You Read It On Reddit?

Apps

Each time you seek advice or more information on a specific topic, where do you tend to go? Do you look for someone who knows more about it than you and start asking questions? Do you grab your phone and quickly Google it? Do you go to the library for books on the subject and read? Perhaps you use the website Reddit along with the other seventy three million daily users, to find out more about a specific topic? With a name derived from the term ‘read it’, Reddit strives to be a thorough source of information for its users who come to “read all about it” on their site. The site is broken down into groups termed ‘subreddits’, considered to be different ‘communities’, but essentially being different topics of…

04Dec 2024 by nrcmmc

Cyberbullying Stories and useful tips.

Filters

The following story is based on real facts but pseudonyms are used to protect the identity of those involved. Lexi is a very popular young girl. She is talented in most anything that she is involved in. She is a kind hearted, easy going young lady. She was raised in a home where family values of honesty, respect, and communication were upheld and where first person communication was regarded as the best way to communicate with another person or group. Lexi has one older brother and one younger sister. Over the past summer of 2023, Lexi was allowed to have a phone which could be used to communicate with her friends, since Lexi was getting older and more independent. Many of the boys in Lexi’s grade, and also older grades,…

14Oct 2024 by nrcmmc

Hidden Dangers of Spotify: A Caution for Parents

Apps, Cell Phones, Devices, Hazards

Music streaming platforms like Spotify have millions of tracks at your fingertip, offering a convenience that’s hard to resist, especially to teens. We know many teens and families use these music platforms, but we would suggest with the little 'profitable' material to be obtained that we stay away from them as much as possible. However, as parents, it's important to recognize the potential dangers Spotify might pose to teens and adults. Here are several to consider: 1. Explicit Content One of the most significant dangers on Spotify is the sheer volume of explicit content. Spotify does offer a “clean” version for younger listeners. Many songs feature explicit language, themes of violence, drug use, and sexual content. Spotify does label songs as “explicit,” but it is easy to bypass this. Here…

09May 2024 by nrcmmc

Snapchat’s ‘My AI’

Apps, Resources, Reviews

About a year ago, ‘My AI’ made its debut on top of the conversation list inside the Snapchat app - with no way to remove it*. AI has popped up in many places since then, and we may continually be wondering, “what does this mean?” or “how much data is being collected?” or “can I turn this off?” As with most AI uses, Snapchat is using this feature to tailor content to its users in order to make their platform more appealing to the user. The app admits that “My AI’s responses may include biased, incorrect, harmful, or misleading content” and that “you should not share confidential or sensitive information”; but it also allows the conversations that have been stored to be deleted. You can follow the steps to do…

07Mar 2024 by nrcmmc

Hoop – Teens Connecting with Strangers

Guidelines, Hazards

Hoop describes the user experience as being able to make new friends locally or all over the world. What exactly is Hoop? When creating an account for Hoop, you only need your age, gender, country, Snapchat username, and a profile picture (up to 5 pictures). Then, Hoop provides you with endless profiles to view. If you find a profile you like, you can request to exchange Snapchat usernames and begin chatting on Snapchat. If you do not like a profile, you pass. Requesting a user’s Snapchat username requires you to use “diamonds.” You can either earn diamonds by performing certain tasks, such as gaining a certain number of friends on Snapchat that were initiated through the Hoop app, or you can purchase more diamonds. Hoop has no chat capabilities -…

Tag: Dangers