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DANIEL J. ROWE
THE EASTERN DOOR
You are not anonymous online. Don’t bottle it up when bullied. Deleted photos are not erased. Those were three messages Kahnawake Survival School students received loud and clear when Digital Locksmiths owner Terry Cutler visited the school Wednesday and gave a presentation as part of Victims of Crime Awareness Week.
Cutler took students through a tour of the web, hitting on topics such as staying safe online, social networking, and cyber bullying.
“Once you send out a photo, you no longer own it,” said Cutler, as he demonstrated how a photo re- mains on 
companies like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat servers even after it has been deleted. “Don’t think your photos are deleted. They stay on their system.”
Cutler used video vignettes throughout his presentation to show how photos are passed around or how predators can lure targets online using false names and information.
In addition, a video showed how in 20 minutes, a stalker can ascertain your name, interests, home address, and even school schedule online if you do not monitor privacy settings, particularly on social media.
He advised students to report “They don’t get to see the reactions when they’re actually cyber bullying. Law enforcement is slowly catching up to this and how to track them down, so they need to be really careful with what they’re doing online.”
He advised students to report cyber bullies and not try to deal with the situation alone. Another hot topic Cutler discussed was passwords. When Cutler asked how many students knew a friend’s password, the majority of KSS’s middle school students raised their hands. Cutler advised against this, as well as changing passwords regularly.
“It was interesting,” said student Tiakotierenhton Diabo of the talk. “I’ve been using the same password for a long time now.”
Diabo, like many of her generation, is relatively savvy when it comes to social media and watches what she posts online.
“On Snapchat it gives you a notification of who screen shots it, but the thing is, on Instagram, it doesn’t give you that notification, so you’re not sure,” she said. Some students asked about “jailbreaking” phones and whether it was a good idea. Jailbreaking a phone means freeing an iPhone or other smart phone from limitations imposed by service providers.
Cutler explained that jailbreaking phones makes the devices easier for hackers to access phones, as well as limiting protection against viruses.
Some students spoke of the advice Cutler gave. “It was helpful,” said Cole Two Axe. “To not send pictures and Cutler has spoken at Survival School in the past, and seeks to dispel myths youth at times believe about their online activities.
“One thing I’ve learned is that they feel that they’re anonymous when they’re online,” Cutler told The Eastern Door. “What I want to do is show them that they’re not, and that they can be very vulnerable. “They don’t get to see the reactions when they’re actually cyber bullying. Law enforcement is slowly catching up to this and how to track them down, so they need to be really careful with what they’re doing online.”
For those victims of cyber bullying, Cutler encourages victims to speak up. “A lot of the victims don’t stand up and say, ‘I am a victim,’” he said. “They just keep it bottled up, and it’s important for them to know that there’s help out there, there’s technology out there that can help stop this stuff or slow it down, so they need to take advantage of it, and report it.”
The talk at KSS followed a presentation at Kateri Hall Tuesday night for parents and children by members of Define the Line, an organization that works to advance Internet safety and warn against risks online.
“So far we’ve had a lot of good feedback,” said campaign organizer Chad Diabo. “We had an even distribution of parents and youth at the presentation. Each of them had their own ques- tions about how things are devel- oping in technology, social media, issues about safety.”
Internet safety and security re- main issues that many in Kahnawake are concerned about, and Kahnawake Shakotiia’takehnhas Community Services is intent on providing as much support in the field as possible.
“One of the comments that came up was, ‘how come there’s not more people at the presentations or at the workshops, yet people are online complaining about their privacy, their security, and what’s not true?’” said Diabo.
“This is what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. We’re bringing in qualified professionals. the technology, at the forefront of battling this and bringing them to the people; the ones that are most susceptible.”
Diabo added that KSCS would be promoting future presentations and workshops on cyber bullying and Internet safety.
