BISMARCK, ND ( KXNET ) — As kids head back to class this fall, many parents are getting phones for their kids to be connected. But that comes with risks.

In the last few months, KX News has reported on stories of two people arrested for sex crimes.
In both cases, investigators say the person had been messaging underage girls on Snapchat and then having sexual contact with them. One of them involved a girl who was just 10 years old .

The Dakota Children’s Advocacy Center is one place where those investigations begin with forensic interviews — but staffers advise parents to talk with their kids when they’re given a smartphone, and set rules and boundaries to keep tabs on when they can use it.

“We know that kids have very little impulse control,” says DCAC’s Executive Director Paula Condol. “They operate off their emotions a lot, and oftentimes, these activities happen when they have nothing else to do. We really do encourage families to get kids involved in pro-social activities like sports, or band, or even religious activities, whatever it might be.”

The Dakota Children’s Advocacy Center has more helpful social media information for parents, including the website Smart Social and the Carly Ryan Foundation . Carly Ryan was a teen in Australia who investigators say was lured and murdered by a serial pedophile in 2007.

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