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"Everyone in cyberspace is a stranger," Cathie Deadrick told parents at a lecture this week at Walkersville Middle School.

Deadrick is a youth programs coordinator at the Mental Health Association of Frederick County, and said that while parents might find that information obvious, children often don't.

"They're gullible," she said on Monday.

One example she cited was the case of Megan Meier, a Missouri teen whose 2006 death was credited to cyber-bullying. According to Deadrick, Meier started an online relationship with someone who she believed to be a teenage boy living in her area. At first the relationship was friendly but later the boy started making hurtful comments toward her, which led her to commit suicide. As it turned out, the boy's online profile was actually created by someone else, Deadrick said.

The Frederick County Public Schools system has a section in its disciplinary code that says students can be suspended or expelled for cyber-bullying, but not everything can be monitored by teachers and administrators. Parents have a responsibility to make sure their child's Internet usage is appropriate and safe, she said.

A part of her job is to make sure adults know that new issues such as cyber-bullying and "sexting," the act of sending nude or semi-nude photos to others on a cell phone, pop up everyday when children are socializing through the Web or on their phones instead of face to face, Deadrick said.

"We live in an increasingly digital-savvy environment," said Valda Valbrun, Walkersville Middle School's principal. And "those issues are beginning or ending in schools."

She said the school has seen some issues of children using the Web or their cell phones inappropriately, though they aren't as severe as the ones Deadrick used as examples.

"It provides another venue for maliciousness," she said. "This is part of their culture." But she hopes that the Monday night lecture and the presentations Deadrick made to the school's students in October will help inform children and parents of Internet dangers.

George and Cindi Wirick, Walkersville residents who attended the lecture, said that they are probably not as aware as they should be about some things that were discussed at the lecture.

"It's definitely an issue," George Wirick said.

One way he tries to monitor his daughter's Web usage is by having his own Facebook account, he said. He had to sneak onto her account when she had forgotten to sign off and force her to accept his friend request, but "she knows better than to ‘unfriend' Dad," he said. He also said the family computer is in a high-traffic area of the house so he and his wife can monitor its use.

Deadrick said parents having a familiarity with the sites that their children use is definitely a good idea, as is keeping the computer in a public area of the house. She also suggests doing random computer and cell phone checks.

"If you walk by the computer and your child minimizes the screen, then they probably have something they don't want you to see," she said. As for cell phones, taking them at the end of the night — to scroll through outgoing messages or so the child doesn't stay up all night chatting with friends — isn't a bad idea either, she said.

Deadrick is scheduled to give another parent lecture on Internet dangers at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 8 at Monocacy Middle School. Call 301-663-0011, ext. 162 or e-mail cdeadrick@fcmha.org with questions or to find out about scheduling a lecture.

E-mail Courtney Pomeroy at cpomeroy@gazette.net.

-Make sure your home computer is in a place where you can monitor its use. If your child has a computer in his or her room, the door should never be closed while it's in use and there should be periodic checks of how the child is using it.

-If your child is using a social networking site, you need to be aware of the password. "No password, no MySpace," Deadrick says.

-Check the computer's Internet history regularly.

-Go through your child's "buddy list" or "contact list" on any instant messaging tool. Make sure they can identify every person they are engaging as someone they actually know and didn't meet online.

-Set your internet browser to "safe search" and activate any parental controls.

Source: Cathie Deadrick, youth programs coordinator at the Mental Health Association of Frederick County