Drugs in a Snap: Our 5 Step Fentanyl Poisoning Prevention Plan
Fentanyl is pouring into the United States and Social media platforms such as Snapchat make it easy for dealers to connect with and sell to teens with little risk of being caught.
Our Safe Community Program has created “Drugs in a Snap: A 5 Step Fentanyl Poisoning Prevention Plan” an essential resource for parents and caregivers that addresses this safety crisis and provides action steps to help prevent tragedy. Download it for FREE here:
Download our Fentanyl Poisoning Prevention Plan Here!
Download our Fentanyl Poisoning Prevention resource guide for students here!
What is fentanyl? Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid similar to morphine that is 50 to 100 times more potent. It is highly addictive and just 2mg, the equivalent of 2 grains of salt, can kill you within minutes.
Why does it matter? Fentanyl is being laced in drugs that teens are purchasing on social media platforms such as Snapchat for just a few pennies. These fentanyl-laced drugs can be purchased online and delivered straight to your home.
What can you do to keep your loved ones safe?
- Download and share our FREE resource guide that provides a 5 step action plan and will enable you to help mitigate the fentanyl overdose crisis here.
- Download our FREE Student resource card here and share it with your teen.
- Watch The Balanced Voice podcast episode with Dr. Laura Berman about her son’s tragic overdose here.
- Sign the #LetParentsProtect to urge social media platforms such as Snapchat to allow third-party monitoring tools to monitor teen accounts for potential dangers here: change.org/LetParentsProtect
Want a hard copy of this resource guide? Reach out to us at scp@crime-stoppers.org.
Social Media Safety Setting Updates You Should Know About
We are glad to see these platforms taking steps to protect our children’s safety online. Here are some safety setting updates on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram that every parents should know about:
TikTok:
TikTok implemented new parental controls in January of 2021. This includes the introduction of “family pairing” which allows parents or guardians to link their account to their teens account. Once this is done, parents are given access to a plethora of parental controls including:
- Screen Time Management: Decide how long your teen can spend on TikTok each day. You can set your teen’s screen time limit directly from your own account, and if your teen has multiple devices, the set time limit will apply to each device individually.
- Restricted Mode: Restrict the appearance of content that may not be appropriate for all audiences.
- Search: Decide whether your teen can search for content, accounts, hashtags, or sounds.
- Discoverability: Decide whether your teen’s account is private (your teen decides who can see their content) or public (anyone can view their content).
- Suggest account to others: Decide whether your teen’s account can be recommended to others.
- Direct Messages: TikTok users become eligible for direct messages at 16. Parents may restrict who can send messages to the connected account, or turn off direct messaging completely. Please note: direct messaging is automatically turned off for registered accounts between the ages of 13 and 15.
- Liked Videos: Decide who can view the videos your teen liked.
- Comments: Decide who can comment on your teen’s videos.
Learn more about these updates in our Cyber Safety Conversation in partnership with T-Mobile video here:
YouTube:
Parents will soon be able to choose from three different content settings on YouTube based on their preferences and their child’ developmental stage.
- Explore: For children ready to move on from YouTube Kids and explore content on YouTube, this setting will feature a broad range of videos generally suitable for viewers ages 9+, including vlogs, tutorials, gaming videos, music clips, news, educational content, and more.
- Explore More: With content generally suitable for viewers ages 13+, this setting will include an even larger set of videos, and also live streams in the same categories as “Explore.”
- Most of YouTube: This setting will contain almost all videos on YouTube, except for age-restricted content, and it includes sensitive topics that may only be appropriate for older teens.
Instagram:
Instagram will be implementing a new Parents Guide in collaboration with The Child Mind Institute and Connect Safely.
- Will begin restricting direct messaging between teen users and adults that do not already follow that teen
- Will use artificial intelligence and machine learning to try to more accurately predict user’s age.
- Will use prompts or “safety notices” to encourage teens to engage in safe conversations with adults they are already friends with on the platform especially if the adult user have been “exhibiting potentially suspicious behavior”
- These prompts will not only alert the teen of suspicious behavior, but also give them the opportunity to block, report, or restrict the user.
- They have already implemented new steps for new users who are under 18 when creating an account that automatically prompts them to make their account “private”
Learn more about Instagram safety settings in our Cyber Safety Conversation in partnership with T-Mobile video here:
Thank you to T-Mobile and Connectivity Source for making our Cyber Safety Initiative possible.
FREE Online Safety Webinars – Crime Stoppers Announces Summer 2021 Calendar
We are thrilled to share that our FREE virtual safety presentations will continue into Summer 2021! Join us Mondays at 10 am for our Safety Actions Valuable Education (S.A.V.E.) Webinars and Tuesdays at 11 am for our Safe Community Program presentations.
Webinar Topics Include:
- Tip Line and Anonymous Reporting
- School Safety
- Prom Safety
- Summer Safety
- Juvenile Rights
- Child Abuse Prevention
- Human Trafficking Prevention
- Domestic Violence Awareness
- Elder Abuse Prevention
- Home Safety
- Summer Camp Safety
- Animal Safety
How it works:
- Browse our presentation offerings in the booklet below (or linked here).
- To register for a webinar, click on the link in the presentation description. This link will bring you to a ZOOM registration page. Once you fill out the form, you will receive a confirmation email with the presentation link and passcode. If you do not see an email come through, make sure to check your junk mail!
- On the day of the presentation, find your registration link, click to launch ZOOM, sign in and join the conversation!
- If you have any questions, please reach out to Mimi Zarenchansky at mzarenchansky@crime-stoppers.org
Download the Summer Virtual Programs Calendar here!
These presentations are made possible by our generous sponsors!
- Safety Actions. Valuable Education (SAVE) Webinars are made possible by the Texas Education Agency (TEA).
- Safe Community presentations are made possible by Spindletop Charities, Inc. as well as our Safe Community Program sponsors:
- Texas Office of the Governor
- The Hamill Foundation
- Harris County Commissioners Court – Commissioner R. Jack Cagle
- The Longenbaugh Fund
- Houston PetSet
- Lawrence and Linda Levy
The Balanced Voice Podcast Interviews Matthew McConaughey
In this episode of The Balanced Voice Podcast, Matthew McConaughey challenges us to use life’s hardships to enact change in ourselves, impact the world around us, and propel our society forward. Today on the balanced voice we are thrilled to welcome Texas’s very own Matthew McConaughey. Matthew’s life motto “just keep livin’ is the cornerstone in all he does. From his foundation that aims to keep kids from choosing a life of crime by providing them with opportunities to lead healthy lives, to his ongoing dedication to The Lone Star State, He clearly defines his own non-negotiable. In today’s balanced conversation we ultimately answer this question:
“How do we live in the present, honor the past, and advocate for a better future?”
Watch on Facebook:
Listen on Spreaker.
Encouragement to Our Team:
Our team was honored to sit down with Matthew McConaughey. Matthew was gracious enough to offer words of encouragement to our entire team and members of our board as well as thank us for all we do.
We all know him as a movie star, but we learned from our conversation with him that he is thoughtful, wise, and encouraging in all he does. Thank you so much Matthew for spending time with us and for serving our great state of Texas tirelessly.
Greenlights
In his debut book ‘Greenlights’, Matthew bares it all as he walks the reader throughout his unique journey thus far. Personal photos and journal writing are shared along with lessons learned from his real experiences with family, love, fatherhood, and faith. Grab a copy of his book here: Greenlights.com
Just Keep Livin’
The Just Keep Livin Foundation was started by Matthew and Camila McConaughey and is dedicated to empowering high school students by providing them with the tools to lead active lives and make healthy choices for a better future. In their programs, they encourage students to make positive life choices to improve their physical and mental health through exercise, teamwork, gratitude, nutrition and community service. Participating students have a safe place to enhance their lives with fitness coaches and health experts. The results have been incredible. Participants get in shape and gain confidence while also improving their grades, attendance and behavior. Friendships are built and fears are overcome. At their j.k. livin after school programs, kids learn self-reliance and get a healthy start today, so they can make a better tomorrow.
Visit our show notes: https://www.raniamankarious.com/post/ep-23-matthew-mcconaughey-greenlights
FREE Online Safety Webinars – Crime Stoppers Announces Spring 2021 Calendar
Webinar Topics include:
- Human Trafficking Awareness
- Situational Awareness
- Bullying Prevention
- Recognizing Abuse
- Teen Dating Safety and Laws
- Animal Cruelty Awareness
- Active Shooter Training presented by JetBlue
- The Importance of Anonymous Reporting
- Financial Crimes Awareness
- Muderabilia
How it works:
- Browse our presentation offerings in the booklet below.
- To register, click on the link in the presentation description. This link will bring you to a ZOOM registration page. Once you fill out the form, you will receive a confirmation email with the presentation link and login. If you do not see an email come through, make sure to check your junk mail!
- On the day of the presentation, find your registration link, click to launch ZOOM, sign in and join the conversation!
- If you have any questions, please reach out to Mimi Zarenchansky at mzarenchansky@crime-stoppers.org
Visit our Events page to view all spring 2021 programs and events!
Click to Download our Online Safety Webinar – Spring 2021 Calendar as a PDF
These presentations are made possible by our generous sponsors!
Safety Actions. Valuable Education (SAVE) Webinars are made possible by the Texas Education Agency (TEA).
Safe School and Community presentations are made possible by:
- Texas Office of the Governor
- The Hamill Foundation
- Harris County Commissioners Court – Commissioner R. Jack Cagle
- The Longenbaugh Fund
- Houston PetSet
- Lawrence and Linda Levy