NBC 5 Chicago “As School Moves Online, Experts Urge Extra Vigilance From Parents”
As kids move to e-learning during the pandemic, NBC 5 reports on the importance of vigilance from parents. Monitoring is a must for safety.
Watch the segment on NBC 5 here>
Excerpt from the segment:
Carol Deely of Chicago has turned her heartbreak into a mission to other parents. Her son 12-year-old son Gabriel died by suicide in November 2018. Deely said a search of her seventh grader’s school-issued iPad showed he looked up “bullying” and “suicide” in the days before his death.
“People often hear statistics but think it can’t or won’t happen to them. Our son is now a statistic. What happened to us, can happen to anyone. Please listen to our message,” Deely said.
Deely is the founder of Gabriel’s Light, which now aims to use the family’s tragedy to urge all schools with 1:1 student-to-device technology to implement monitoring and alerting software.
“We don’t leave our kids home alone, with the front door unlocked and let them wander anywhere they want to or let strangers into our home,” Deely said. “Giving your child a device without multi-level safety controls is no different.”
Deely offers the following six steps to manage your child’s online activity:
Communicate with your child, their school, their peers and parents
Create tech free zones at home - bedroom, bathroom, dinner table
Know your child’s phone and all account passwords
Know your child’s phone and all account passwords
Apple - Screen Time found in Settings, Turn On, Set Pin
Android - Play Store, Menu, Settings, User Control, Parental Controls, Turn On, Set Pin
Set Up Monitoring and Alert Controls, such as Bark Technologies, GoGuardian, Securly, etc.
Install home network content filtering, such as CISCO FREE OpenDNS Shield
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About Gabriel's Light
In 2019, Carol and Brendan Deely founded Gabriel’s Light in honor of their son who died by suicide at age 12. In honor of Gabe and all those lost to suicide, they share their journey with the hope that others may learn and grow from their tragedy. Focusing on three pillars of cyber safety, suicide prevention, and kindness campaigns, through outreach, programs, partnerships, and funding, they raise awareness and inspire youth, parents, and educators to take action and help forward their mission.