I’m going out to a highschool this afternoon for a presentation.  I’ve seen this fellow before, when I worked in a large Middle School.  Today’s venue is a small high school in a small community, with a dwindling population.  The sort of place where disenfranchised youth who think they have nothing to look forward to mope about the streets and look for ways to relieve both their anxiety and their ennui.

The possibilities of the Internet create opportunity for these kids, in communication and learning… and also in mischief.

Enter White Hat Darren Laur.  A retired Vancouver city cop, now in the Internet safety game, Darren and his team travel the province (and possibly beyond) and give an almost Scared Straight kind of shows to impressionable teens and tweens, as well as teachers and parents.  His message is a solid one, he touches not only on being aware of one’s digital footprint, but also cyberbullying, online predation, and vulnerabilities.  When I saw him last, part of his shtick was to poke about FaceBook a few days prior to the presentation and, posing as a teenager, send friend requests to students, providing real examples of how easily they may let malfeasance into their lives– and their friend’s lives. It served as a reminder not to let the line blur overmuch between real time and screen time.

It’s on my mind particularly today, because of something I blogged about recently regarding online privacy. It was pointed out to me that there could have been hidden (or indeed blatant) threat in that message. What I intended was exactly what Darren intends– to highlight awareness. If I can find someone who doesn’t even know they are being searched for, and Darren can befriend teen-age strangers and see their entire online lives, what does that mean to the unsavory underbelly of digital citizenry? It means this:  the threat is always possible, but are your instincts going to keep you safe.

It was interesting to me that one of the students who accepted Darren’s Fake-Teen Girl friend request was exactly the sort of kid I worried about making poor choices. I’d like to think it was good learning for her, but I fear it might have underscored for her that her instincts were good, and in fact that this turned out to be a safe connection (In a perverse way).

Speaking of perversity, the lesson for me is this: You can view a stranger behaving in a threatening manner as safe, and you can view someone you know to be kind and friendly as a threat.

Despite the resolution of your screen, your perception may be off.  Way off.