Retired Sheriff Mike Brown, Dr. Janet Brown, President Eddie Worth, and Board member Eric Winkler with Safe Surfin’ Foundation recently hosted members of the Virginia Department of Education and the Pala Indian tribe at the ICAC Task Force command center in Forest, VA.

A presentation was presented by ICAC Commander Steve Anders explaining the importance of internet safety education throughout the country. Safe Surfin is working with the Virginia Department of Education to include its peer-to-peer program Cyber S.W.A.T. in all public schools in Virginia.

Retired Sheriff Mike Brown and Dr. Janet Brown met with West Virginia state police superintendent Colonel J.C. Chambers and his staff to discuss Senate Bill 466 – Safety While Accessing Technology education program. Safe Surfin’ Foundation is working with several senators in West Virginia on this bill to make internet safety mandatory in all public schools with a full endorsement from West Virginia state police.

Pictured from left to right: Colonel J.C. Chambers, Captain L.J. Deskins, Sheriff Mike Brown, Dr. Janet Brown, Lt. K.D. Akers, Sgt. J. Brown and Sgt. F. Edwards.

Sergeant Brown and Lieutenant Akers are ICAC/CAC investigators. Sergeant Edwards is the Deputy Director of ICAC.

Safe Surfin’ Foundation is pleased to announce they have entered into a partnership with Virginia FCCLA, a state affiliate of Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, Inc. FCCLA is a national career-technical student organization that is part of Family and Consumer Sciences courses in middle schools, high schools, and technical centers. Through coursework as well as student leadership opportunities, FCCLA members develop the skills needed to strengthen families, improve their communities, and prepare for workplace success. Together, we’re improving and saving lives.

We are pleased to announce Retired Sheriff Mike Brown has been elected as Chairman of the Board for Safe Surfin’.

Today is #NationalMissingChildrensDay.
Every year on May 25th, the nation observes Missing Children’s Day. Since 1984, NCMEC has led the fight to protect children, creating vital resources for them and the people who keep them safe. You can help bring them home: missingkids.org

Iredell County Sherrif’s Department has rolled out the Cyber S.W.A.T. program at Lake Norman High School in North Carolina. Over 60 students attend the first meeting where important online topics were discussed and snacks were provided.

Eddie Worth and Vicki Johnson attended the Georgia Moose Mid-Year Conference with Landon Wilson. Landon is the first member of our SSF’s newly formed Youth Advisory Board.

The Safe Surfin’ Foundation has partnered with the Child Rescue Coalition to produce an eBook that will help parents manage their children’s usage of technology. Use the scroll window to enter your email address. Once your email is entered, click the DOWNLOAD button and you will be given access to the eBook.

Since 2010, January has been dedicated as Human Trafficking Awareness month. The Safe Surfin’ Foundation’s commitment to educating children and teenagers about online safety also plays a part in protecting them from human trafficking. The internet and social media platforms are often used as a tool to lure and groom unsuspecting victims.

Please help us in our fight to combat this horrific crime. Click the button below for more information.

Eddie and Dave had the pleasure of meeting Landon Wilson and his parents to
present Landon with a $500 scholarship check from Safe Surfin for using
Internet Safety as his kids talk at the International Youth Awareness
conference held in Orlando, Florida.

Detective Marc Ramey receives award from SafeSurfin for his work in getting child predators off of streets. He has made 8 arrest and 31 charges against these people.

Safe Surfin’ Executive President/CEO Eddie Worth and Safe Surfin’ Founder Mike Brown met with the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office to talk about the implementation of Cyber SWAT in 3 county schools.

Visit the link below to read the entire article:

https://statesville.com/news/local/three-iredell-county-schools-will-be-first-to-add-cyber-swat-program/article_81c46378-5b7a-11ed-b60a-d3b9e683b789.html

Wayne leading the way IDing a child at an event at the Waynesboro VA Moose Lodge.

Safe Surfin’ partnered with the Sanford Moose Lodge to host an EZID event on July 16th. A big thanks goes out to Billy Noah and all Moose members that helped make this event happen.

Safe Surfin’ is represented proudly with truck and trailer in Fireman’s parade in Front Royal, Va.

One of the many services that The Safe Surfin’ Foundation provides to communities are EZID kits.  These kits record vital information on either your child or senior relative to help with the detection if they were ever to go missing. Moose Lodges across the US are trained and provided the equipment free from our organization in order to provide their communities with these records.

We want to thank Judy Jones and the The North Carolina Moose Lodges, Mogantown Chapter #1382, Marion Chapter #1428 and Boone Chapter #2378 for coming together this weekend and providing EZID kits for your communities. We would also like to thank you for representing and sharing our mission of how the Safe Surfin’ Foundation alligns with that of the mission of House of Representatitive’s Virginia Foxx, in keeping kids safe!!

Another successful weekend of over 64 EZID kits completed!

The Safe Surfin’ Foundation is now a Community Education Partner with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children! As a Community Education Partner, we are trained to provide NetSmartz cyber safety presentations on the following topics:

– Inappropriate Content
– Online Privacy
– Cyberbullying
– Sexting

We have a variety of presentations that are age appropriate for children K-12. Together we will combat and prevent online victimization by helping educate and equip kids across the nation to make safer choices online.

To schedule a presentation email: moe@safesurfin.org

Vicki and Eddie traveled to the Tennessee Mid-Year Moose Conference to thank them for their support and review all Safe Surfin’ programs available to them.

The Lexington, Ohio Moose Lodge joins forces with local law enforcement to ID children using the Child/Elderly ID kit provided by Safe Surfin’.

Eddie and Vicki traveled to the Mississippi Moose Association’s mid-year conference and received a $6,500 donation. A special thanks goes out to the Mississippi Moose Association for their generous donation. As always, this money will be used to educate our children about online safety.

Check out our newly wrapped trailer to match the truck donated by Lynchburg Nissan. From here forward, we will be delivering supplies and protecting our children in style.

A teacher in New York was teaching her class about bullying and gave them the following exercise to perform. She had the children take a piece of paper and told them to crumple it up, stamp on it and really mess it up but do not rip it. Then she had them unfold the paper, smooth it out and look at how scarred and dirty is was.

She then told them to tell it they’re sorry. Now even though they said they were sorry and tried to fix the paper, she pointed out all the scars they left behind. And that those scars will never go away no matter how hard they tried to fix it.

That is what happens when a child bully’s another child, they may say they’re sorry but the scars are there forever. The looks on the faces of the children in the classroom told her the message hit home.

-livelifehappy.com

Eddie Worth and Vicki Johnson recently met with members of the Ohio Moose Association in Independence, Ohio to thank them for their continued support and to provide updates on new Safe Surfin’ projects and partnerships.

The Safe Surfin’ Foundation presented the Cyber S.W.A.T. program to a large group of food and beverage executive at the 2022 BITAC conference.

The Safe Surfin’ Foundation and Floyd, VA Moose team up to take much needed supplies to tornado victims in Kentucky.

On Saturday, December 4th, the Safe Surfin’ team met with Young Marine leaders to launch the Cyber SWAT program. Cyber SWAT is a free, peer-to-peer program teaching kids about internet safety. Peer mentors will learn about topics including sexting, cyberbullying, online predators, and other online risks. The peer mentors will then reach out to their peers to share the online safety information they learned.

These Young Marine leaders from New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C. will bring the Cyber SWAT program back to their units to launch the first programs throughout the Young Marines. Each Young Marine peer mentor will have the opportunity to spread internet safety awareness in their communities, keeping not only their peers safe while using technology, but themselves as well.

With online enticement incidents rising over 97.5% since the pandemic began, it is more important than ever to teach kids about internet safety. Safe Surfin is excited to partner with the Young Marines to launch this program nationwide.

For more information on Cyber SWAT, visit www.teamcyberswat.org.

#mooseproud and #safesurfinproud to say that we protected 49 kids and seniors today at the Spring Hope Pumpkin Festival. Thanks to the Rocky Mount Chapter 123 for inviting us to the event. Thanks for all the helpers we had today from Rocky Mount Chapter 123, Marion Chapter 1428, and Morganton Chapter 1382.

The parade was great and the largest pumpkin weighted 1,500 lbs. WOW!

The Safe Surfin’ Foundation continues to implement the Cyber S.W.A.T. program in schools and other organizations throughout the United States.

We want to continue to equip children all over and not allow COVID to stall our efforts!!! We are calling 🗣all #youthgroups to join us to keeping kids safe and utilizing this program with your group.

To the left are pictures of 2 schools who have decided to continue the implementation of Cyber S.W.A.T. Green River High School is located in Green River, Wyoming (top) and Jefferson Forest High School is located in Bedford County, Virginia (bottom).

Contact us today if you would like additional information on Cyber S.W.A.T.

What are the latest trends and why are they dangerous?
One of the latest trends on TikTok is the “Devious Licks” challenge. This is where kids are going into school bathrooms and vandalizing them. The challenge encourages them to video themselves committing theft or vandalism of a school bathroom, and then get social clout for the “best lick.” This challenge has not only resulted in arrests but also criminal charges.

On September 18th, volunteers from the Newbern Moose Lodge 2707 and Chapter 2450 created Identification kits for 36 children. Small toys and lollipops were given to each wonderful child upon completion of their kit.

Newbern, Tennessee’s Annual Depot Days Festival provided the perfect opportunity to interact with families and the community in general. Newbern Moose Lodge appreciates the work Safe Surfin’ does and the awareness you bring to child safety and protection. We are proud to be a part of your network.

We thank you for all your hard work and efforts to help protect kids!

Eddie Worth, President of Safe Surfin Foundation and Wilson Lee, Chief of Staff of Young Marines jointly signed a Memorandum of Understanding on September 2, 2021 to help over 7,000 Young Marines across the nation learn about Internet safety through the implementation of Safe Surfin’s Cyber S.W.A.T. program.

Cyber S.W.A.T. is an innovative peer-to-peer program that helps teens stay safe and make better choices online. Learn more at www.teamcyberswat.org.

Also in attendance for Safe Surfin was Michelle Kreps, Director of Marketing and Taylor Landreth, Trainer. Also representing Young Marines was Abra Hogarth, Director of Strategic Communications and Kayla Nakano, Training and Education Manager.

Are you feeling the pressure to give your child a cell phone? Many parents often wonder what is a good age to give their child a cell phone. In this article, we will talk about a couple of risks to consider before giving your child a phone.

Online solicitation of minors has risen 97.5% since the start of the pandemic! Now, more than ever, it is important to educate your children on the dangers of the internet. This blog will discuss the definition of online solicitation, how to talk with your children about online predators, and two tips for your child if they are approached by a stranger online.

June 1st is National Delete Snapchat Day! Learn about the dangers of Snapchat and join the movement to delete the app.

Is your teen on dating apps such as Tinder, Hinge, or Bumble? This video, featuring Retired Investigator Moe McClanahan, will discuss the dangers of dating apps and why they can be particularly dangerous for teens. Dating apps have become one of the most popular forms of dating in the United States.

Instagram’s New “Vanish Mode” – What Is It and Why It’s Dangerous

Instagram released a new feature to their messenger platform in late 2020 called “Vanish Mode.” Similar to the popular app Snapchat, Instagram’s Vanish Mode allows your messages to disappear. Unlike Snapchat’s automatic feature, Instagram requires you to turn on this feature in order for messages to disappear.

Why is it important for parents to stay in control of their child’s Internet usage? The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) is reporting a 28% increase in reports sent to the CyberTipline in 2020. (You can see the full statistics and more information on the CyberTipline here .) Unfortunately, cyber crimes against children are increasing. As a parent, it is important to know what your child is doing on the Internet so that you can keep them safe.

What is sextortion? According to the FBI, sextortion is “a serious crime that occurs when someone threatens to distribute your private and sensitive material if you don’t provide them with images of a sexual nature, sexual favors, or money.” Predators will often use fake social media profiles to gain the trust of children. They will persuade the child to send images or videos that will later be used as blackmail.

Facebook claims that moving toward complete end-to-end encryption is for the purpose of protecting their users’ privacy. Learn the dangers of disappearing messages and what it means for you and your child.

Did you hear about the recent data breach on Facebook? Over 533 million Facebook users had their data leaked. To see if you were affected, you can check this website and enter the email you use to log in to Facebook: Haveibeenpwned.com.

Have you ever taken away your child’s cell phone, tablet, etc., and wondered how they were accessing the Internet? Parents have come to us after their child has been sending nude images or inappropriate text messages and wondered how their child could have done this after they have already taken away their electronic devices? Could these images have been taken beforehand? Could it be fraud? Well, you know that old iPhone 7 you put in your junk drawer when you upgraded phones?

The Safe Surfin’ Foundation and Moose International provided McDowell Middle School with 675 webcam covers. These webcam covers will be used to cover the built-in cameras on school-issued laptops.

Buddy and Brenda working the Safe Surfin’ booth at the Florida Moose Association mid-year conference.

Predators are continually using unique and clever tactics to get in touch with children. Safe Surfin’ recently shared a case that took place in Virginia about a man who was posing as a teenager online. He was creating relationships with young teens, ultimately convincing them to take inappropriate pictures and videos of themselves. Sadly, this went on for several years until he was caught. Like this man, predators are communicating with each other to become better at acting like kids to easier find their victim’s vulnerabilities in order to create trust with them online.

It’s the first week of our digital detox challenge! Families and children are participating in this challenge to unplug. Especially now during the pandemic, we all spend too much time on our phones, playing video games, watching TV, online learning, etc. This challenge was designed to allow families to create more time together. Kids are reading books, building living room forts, going outside, and communicating with their parents.

Safe Surfin’s Moe McClanahan had the honor of talking on the CatFish Cops 5.0 podcast this week about a case she did when she was an investigator. This case was about a youth pastor that was charged with several online sex crimes against children. You can listen to the full podcast here.

She was asked the question, “What are your top two internet safety tips?” Here are Moe’s top two internet safety tips that parents can implement today!

As an investigator of internet crimes against children, I have been using TikTok and researching it for over two years. When TikTok initially came out, there were no safety concerns with the app. My friends started asking me if there was anything dangerous about the app beyond their children using it. After doing some research, I found reports that there were issues due to their collection of data from the Chinese app. I later found out this was merely a distraction from the international trade issues.

I know what you’re thinking. What is a “digital detox” (or electronics detox) and why is it important? Research has shown that an excessive amount of screen time for kids can lead to an increase in stress, anxiety, and a lack of coping skills. Just like any addiction, it takes needing assistance from someone else to help acknowledge it and break the addiction. Safe Surfin’ wants to encourage you to speak to your kids about your concerns for their overall well-being with all of their screen time and put into action an electronics detox.

Investigator Moe McClanahan has a few recommendations for what age your child should have a cell phone and rules to implement when that time comes. Simply put, nobody under the age of 13 should have a smartphone.

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act states, “This Act protects children’s privacy by giving parents tools to control what information is collected from their children online. The Act requires the Commission to promulgate regulations requiring operators of commercial websites and online services directed to children under 13 or knowingly collecting personal information from children under 13.

Is your child ready to have a school-issued Chromebook? As a parent, are you feeling anxious or overwhelmed about your child having a school-issued Chromebook? I’m right there with you.

While our kids are excited to have their own Chromebook, there are many hesitations you should have before allowing your child full access to the internet. As an investigator, I am here to make you aware of some dangers of school-issued Chromebooks and give you a few tips to keep your children safe online.

The Carly Ryan Case

15-year-old Carly Ryan believed she was talking to an 18-year-old musician named Brandon Kane. They had met online and they had continued an 18-month relationship of online contact and phone calls. Carly thought she had met her dream boyfriend.

Brandon Kane was actually a 50-year-old predator, Gary Newman. He had spent 18 months winning over Carly. They eventually met in 2007 at a secluded beach in Port Elliott, South Australia where he murdered her. He was found 11 days later in Victoria. Police found him at his computer, logged in as Brandon Kane talking with a 14-year old girl. He was arrested and charged with Carly’s murder.

What is Discord?

If your kids are playing video games, they are likely using Discord to communicate with their friends. While gaming is the most popular category for Discord users, you do not have to be on video games to use this app.

According to discord.com, Discord is a “voice, video, and text communication service used by over a hundred million people to hang out and talk with their friends and communities.” You can share images, videos, and GIFs on Discord, as well as direct messages and video chat. Discord requires users to be at least 13 years old, however, like most social media platforms, there is no verification.

The Safe Surfin’ Foundation, (SSF), a global not-for-profit, dedicated to the awareness and education of children, parents and teachers on the dangers and realities of internet predators, today announced its agreement to join the Girl Scout Nation’s Capital Program Partners.

As part of the Girl Scout Nation’s Capital Program Partners, the Safe Surfin’ Foundation’s mission and program will be shared with Girl Scout leaders around the globe.  In addition, a Girl Scout Badge for Cyber S.W.A.T.™, (Safety While Accessing Technology), will now be part of the Girl Scout Badge Program.