Teens Online: Unveiling the Hidden Dangers of Social Media

The internet and social media platforms are powerful tools, but they can be harmful when misused or not respected. Teens and young adults today hang out daily in a vast digital world to connect, communicate, and interact with people from all over the world. While communicating and interacting online, they make and share videos, photos, and personal details about their lives and families.  

In this presentation, learn what happens when teens and young adults collide online with sexually inappropriate apps, live broadcasting, webcam modeling, talking with strangers, and more. See and hear what online gang activity looks like. Parents who are cautious about the single stranger their child encounters in real life will pause at the thought of the hundreds they invite into their homes via social media and social networking apps in addition to the personal data these online services share.  

This presentation offers a glimpse into an otherwise unknown level of human interaction that occurs largely off the grid via apps and other social networking platforms. Parents, professionals in child development, and young people will hear what occurs when children fire up their digital devices and “play” online. 

Leonard Gonzales

An author and the owner of Ally Cyber Investigations, Len is a cyber investigator  who brings over 30 years of experience in military and Department of Defense  (DoD) intelligence, including a 21-year naval career as an intelligence analyst and  nine years as a cyber intelligence analyst with the Naval Criminal Investigative  Service.  Leonard successfully conducted and participated in cyber investigations for state, federal, and international law enforcement agencies. He helped resolve several high-profile, sensitive, and newsworthy cases in the DoD and Department of the Navy, including locating fugitives. Leonard’s current passion is speaking with parents and young people about social media and the dangers of the internet.​