Latest news with #Kik
The Guardian
a day ago
- General
- The Guardian
‘I don't think my brain should have gone through that': five young people on their experience of smartphones as teens
Debate and anxiety about teen and preteen access to smartphones and social media is raging. One paper has likened smartphones to a 'parasite' on our brains, while another study suggests moderate use of social media does not have a harmful effect on young people. In the US more than 100,000 parents have joined an online pledge to delay giving children smartphones until at least the eighth grade and in Australia a ban on under-16s using social media will come into effect in December. Despite all this, OECD figures released in May show 70% of 10-year-olds and 98% of 15-year-olds have internet-connected smartphones. So is giving teenagers smartphones that big a deal? To find out, we asked four twentysomethings who got a smartphone at some point in their teen or preteen years – and one who didn't. Sienna Seychell, 21, Melbourne I was about 11 when I got my first smartphone. But when I was six I got an iPod Touch so I had already been communicating with people that way. My brother installed Kik, the infamous app for predators, on the iPod – a bit concerning to think about now! But I just used it to text my friends from school. I know a fair few of my friends went down a rabbit hole contacting people that they definitely shouldn't have at that age. I got social media in year 5 or 6. I convinced my mum to let me get Snapchat for the filters and I got Instagram shortly after. It definitely brought my friendships closer because I had a readily accessible means of communication outside school hours. I was cyberbullied in year 6, so that was a negative. But I feel like I put that aside to be able to talk with friends. I had a good experience of social media overall but it has contributed to friends' severe eating disorders. I think I would have been more outdoorsy had I not had a phone. I would have connected with nature more and hung out in the real world, instead of online all the time. I think it would have made a great impact on my mental health. I suffer from pretty bad anxiety and OCD and sometimes I feel that a big trigger is using my phone and being able to focus on things online that are outside my control. I would have hated a social media ban – but I would have gotten over it! If I could go back I would have not let myself ever get TikTok. I think my attention span is so poor because of it and I really struggle to sit down and study or just do what I love doing without getting distracted. I can barely watch a movie for an hour without checking my phone a few times. I'm always on my phone. Ella Jackson, 21,, regional New South Wales I was 12 when Mum took me to get an iPhone 5, so I had Instagram from a really young age. I grew up in a place called Penrose, which is in the NSW southern highlands. I liked emo music so I would spend a lot of time on my phone looking into that world. I found a sense of belonging on the internet, because there weren't a lot of people around who liked the same things as me. The bad side of it was Instagram models, obviously. Twelve-year-old girls shouldn't be comparing themselves to 30-year-old women. I think I also became conscious of the fact that it seemed like a big deal to live a life that was 'worth' posting on Instagram, especially in the later part of high school. It made me conscious of how people perceive others. I felt like everybody was judging each other all the time. Studying I found so tricky, because the phone was always there and it was so easy to be distracted by it. I ended up having to film myself studying so I couldn't go on my phone. And because my mum's house was in a regional part of the highlands, there was no way out unless she was going to drive me 40 minutes into town. So I was just stuck at home all weekend and would just sit there streaming, which is crazy. It's this huge amount of time that was not well spent. When I got my driver's licence, all of this changed. I could go places and see my friends. More interesting things came along and my brain was like, OK, you don't need to be doing this any more. Zach Karpinellison, 29, Sydney I had a dumb phone until I was probably 15, then I pivoted to a cheap Android. On my dumb phone I had limited data and credit. So the clear difference was that, all of a sudden, you're constantly messaging other people. I was in an era where schools had no sense of whether phones needed to be regulated, so you had your phone on you all the time. It was a real opportunity to have quite deep conversations with people, which would do a lot of the work of forming a friendship with them. It was also an opportunity to connect to a wider pool of people outside school. That was good – I liked that part of it. But it trained me to expect immediate contact with everybody. I would feel a real panic and stress over not hearing back from people if they didn't immediately write back. I carry that with me to this day – being stressed about someone not responding to me. As a teenager, you're already full of anxiety and trying to figure out the world. Then you're messaging someone at 2am and they drop off, and you spiral out into 'something terrible has happened!' I don't think my brain should have gone through that at that stage. I had Facebook and Messenger, then Instagram towards the end of high school. Because I went through those different iterations of the internet, I am savvy about how to use these things but also have an ability to step away from it. I recognise when I'm being sold things in a way that people who are gen Z don't necessarily. But we were posting ourselves online and comparing the like counts [of Instagram posts]. That was, like, absolutely brain melting. It was not good. Pearl Cardis, 24, Sydney I had a Nokia brick phone in school. It was the equivalent of a party trick because I could toss it across the playground, or break in three pieces for the drama, and then put it back together – people's eyes got so wide. But beyond that it was pretty rough. We were quite low-income. Mum had all of us on Vodafone so that we could do free Vodafone-to-Vodafone calls but we weren't able to text anyone. So I could only really use my phone to call family. All around me it was Apple city – everyone else had an iPhone. I was not overly concerned with fitting in but I also didn't have great friendships. I doubt being different in that way helps when you're already kind of an oddball. For me the dominant experience was one of stress and isolation because I had less independence and less ability to connect with people around me. It was difficult to travel anywhere or meet anyone because I couldn't use maps or text friends. I remember getting off the bus one time and just being so panicked, in the middle of nowhere, with no way to contact anyone except an actual pay phone on the side of the road. I tried to call someone but they didn't pick up. I know that a lot of people had huge body image issues going through high school or were very concerned with trends and appearance – whereas I was just not conscious of that. I still had low self-esteem, which I think any young person will, but it was more through comparison to my peers than anyone online. I didn't get a proper phone until I was 20. I think I'm a very different person to what the mould looks like for the people I grew up with. I am able to go without my phone for an extremely long time without worrying about it. I feel less habituated to needing to check notifications all the time, and I hate [the pressure to] respond to people regularly. But when TikTok came out there were periods where I would be trapped for five hours at a time scrolling. I just get so sucked in because I have no guardrails. It's like a kid who doesn't have sugar who gets access to sugar. Maybe these are things that it's better to be trained to adapt to as you grow up, as opposed to the floodgates opening all in one go. Reinhard Holl, 24, Adelaide I got an iPhone in year 7. I came to social media a little bit later, maybe midway through high school – it didn't spark my interest that much at first. Later it became more of a fixation. I would say social media became a little bit of a negative thing in the way that I felt a lot of pressure to be perceived a certain way, put things online and keep up with the way that everybody else was using it in high school. But it also became a good way to interact with people. The phone definitely affected my sleep. I would wake up and get straight on my phone and mentally reinforce having that immediate stimulus as a normal thing. I think it affected my attention span, too – it was this thing that I was focused on constantly. If I could go back I wouldn't have allowed myself to sleep with it in my room. But really, I feel like I got thrown in the deep end and learned how to have a phone that way. I now have a good dynamic with it – I know how to use it in a way that works well for me.
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Yahoo
Long-haul truck driver from Utah arrested for possessing CSAM, charges say
Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. GRAND COUNTY, Utah () — A long-haul truck driver from Utah has been arrested and charged with allegedly possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and having inappropriate conversations about children. Leo Jacob Stocks, 38, has been charged with four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of assault by a prisoner, and one count of interference with an arresting officer. According to documents, a sergeant with the Grand County Sheriff's Office was assigned the investigation of National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CyberTips. These tips were from Kik, a social media and messaging app, and said that the suspect was using the platform to possess and distribute CSAM. West Haven man charged for sending and receiving CSAM through social media, documents say The sergeant obtained search warrants for the Kik account and associated Google and AT&T accounts. A separate investigation by law enforcement in Maryland had located the suspect's phone number and email. Using this information, the suspect was identified as Stocks, who lived in Green River, Utah, and was a long-haul truck driver for a company based out of Illinois. On June 16, 2025, sheriff deputies found that Stocks was traveling on I-70 in Grand County. They performed a traffic stop on him. The investigating sergeant read Stocks his Miranda Rights and then had a conversation about the alleged CSAM connected to him through the investigation. Documents say that Stocks at first avoided the questions, but then confessed that he had CSAM on his phone. He also admitted to having sexual desires for children, but 'denied ever acting on those desires.' Search warrants for the devices were served on Stocks' devices, and four files of 'prepubescent' CSAM were located, one of which was downloaded in the last 48 hours. When the sergeant reviewed messages Stocks sent on Kik, he found that he had 'multiple conversations attempting to arrange meetings with juvenile children.' Former U.S. serviceman charged with possessing child sexual abuse material, documents say Also in those conversations, Stocks allegedly confessed to sexually abusing an infant when he was a juvenile. Messages regarding his desires to engage in sexually abusing young children were found on Kik as well. Documents say that Stocks had been making offers to babysit children in Green River, but had been turned down. 'Based on the conversations had by the suspect, his admittance to having sexual desires to children, his attempts to act on these desires, and his employment allowing him to travel across the country, Leo poses an extreme risk to all communities should he be allowed to be released,' one of the documents reads. Stocks was booked into the Grand County Jail and is currently being held without bail. He has an initial appearance in court on June 23. Report child sexual abuse material to law enforcement by contacting the ICAC Tip Line at (801) 281-1211 or your local law enforcement agency. WATCH: Arturo Gamboa is released from jail, walks out arm in arm with his mother Snapchat files lawsuit against Utah AG over 'threats' to require age verification We Win Injury Law exposes what riders get wrong about crash claims Hogle Zoo's giraffe encounter is wildly worth it Pope Leo 'concerned' about AI's impact on children Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Irish Daily Mirror
21-06-2025
- Irish Daily Mirror
Education Board member walks free despite being caught with child abuse material
A manager with Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board has been given a one-month suspended prison sentence for the possession of child abuse material. Bernard Morley (49) a married father of two of Coolnakilly, Glenealy, Co Wicklow pleaded guilty at sitting of Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court to possession of one video and three images of material contrary to Section 6 (1) of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998 on dates between January 22, 2022 and April 23, 2022. Judge Terence O'Sullivan said the scale of the offending was 'as low as you can get' for such an offence and was 'radically different' from many other cases of possession of child pornography which come before the courts. The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week Detective Sergeant David Smith told the court that gardaí became aware that the offending material was available on an account with Kik – a mobile messaging application. Det Garda Smith said the accused handed over his mobile phone and answered questions about the suspect account when gardaí called to his home on September 8, 2022. The court heard one video depicting a 13-year-old girl having sex with an adult male and three nude images of children were contained in a Kik account to which Morley had access as a group member. However, Det Garda Smith told counsel for the DPP, James Kelly BL, that there was no illegal material on any device in Morley's possession and there was no evidence that he had ever distributed such content. Cross-examined by defence counsel, Ronan Kennedy SC, Det Garda Smith said the defendant had admitted he was having 'a rough time' at the time of the offence and was 'looking at some stuff' on Kik. He confirmed that the last time Morley had accessed Kik was in April 2022. Mr Kennedy said it was a 'fairly unique' case of its type as the offending material was not stored on an actual physical device but in a Kik account. The barrister said his client had been diagnosed with a number of health problems and had been suspended from his job with Kildare and Wicklow ETB as a result of publicity about the case. Mr Kennedy said Morley had previously been regarded as a model citizen who had no previous convictions. He said it was an unfortunate case of a man who was doing very well who began drinking at home during the Covid-19 pandemic at a time which coincided with the death of his father and brother. Mr Kennedy said the accused also started playing interactive games online during the pandemic which led him to using Kik. The court heard he joined a group which shared pornographic images, which were not illegal, but which led to him finding himself in possession of the offending material. Mr Kennedy said Morley was deeply remorseful and ashamed about his offending and had suffered a significant fall from grace which had impacted on his career. However, he said the education official enjoyed the support of his family and members of his local community which was evidenced by a number of character references submitted to the court. Sentencing Morley to one month in prison, Judge O'Sullivan said it was unfortunate for the accused that someone had put material into the Kik group of which he was a member which was illegal. The judge noted that the accused could have argued that he was not in possession of the material, although he did believe such a defence was unlikely to have been successful. He acknowledged that Morley came into possession of the video and images at a difficult personal time and was paying a price for his actions. Suspending the sentence in full, Judge O'Sullivan said it was 'quite plainly just a mistake' by the accused and he believed it was unlikely he would come to the attention of gardaí again.
Wales Online
20-06-2025
- Wales Online
He claimed he was a paedophile hunter when he had arranged to abuse a five-year-old girl
He claimed he was a paedophile hunter when he had arranged to abuse a five-year-old girl A judge said the 39-year-old's claims to be a paedophile hunter were "laughable" Julian Jakeman's phone was found to contain 51 indecent images (Image: Dyfed-Powys Police ) A man who made arrangements to meet and sexually abuse a five-year-old girl in a rented Airbnb property told police who arrested him he was in fact a paedophile hunter trying to catch offenders, a court has heard. Julian Jakeman had discussed his plans to abuse the girl with someone he believed to be her father but who was actually an online undercover police officer. Jakeman maintained his innocence up until the day of trial when he changed his plea - but then went on to repeat the paedophile hunter assertions to the author of his pre-sentence report. Sending the 39-year-old to prison a judge described his claims as "laughable" and said the reality was that no meaningful work could be done with him until he accepted the fact he was a paedophile. Tom Scapens, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that in October 2021 the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit was running an operation to identify online child sex offenders, and as part of that operation an officer was operating an account on the messaging and chat app Kik. He said Jakeman - who was using the false name Gareth with an account called TidyGuy2021 - contacted the officer in a public forum and their conversation then moved to a private chat. The court heard Jakeman immediately began discussing sexual matters with the new contact and sent him pictures of a girl who he falsely claimed to be his 17-year-old daughter and who he said performed oral sex on him. The identity of the girl in the pictures has never been established. The prosecutor said Jakeman began asking the decoy about his children, and the undercover officer told him he had a five-year-old daughter and an eight-year-old son. The defendant said his preference was for the girl over the boy, and he began describing the sex acts he wanted to perform on the child. Article continues below The court heard the pair then discussed meeting up, and talked about renting an Airbnb and set out the "rules" for any meeting including that the girl must not be caused pain by the sexual activity. As a result of the online conversation police in Wales were notified and a search warrant was executed at the defendant's house. The prosecutor said present at the property were the defendant and his "now former-partner". Jakeman told the officers he had been posing as paedophile online in order to hunt down sex offenders. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter The court heard that in his subsequent interview the defendant repeated his claim about being a paedophile hunter and gave officers the name of a former partner who he said knew about his online work and would be able to verify his story. Officers located the woman and spoke to her, and she said she knew nothing about the claims being made by her ex and said she was "horrified" at being dragged into the investigation. Jakeman also told officers he had reported the paedophiles he had uncovered on Kik to the the app's administrators but police checks with the company responsible for the app showed no such reports had been made. The court heard that when officers examined Jakeman's phone they found 23,780 messages on his Kik profile in 1,000 different chat logs. An examination of those chat logs found 28 where the defendant had been discussing sexual matters or sharing indecent images with others. Officers also found 51 indecent images on the phone including 13 of Category A showing the most serious forms of sexual abuse. The court heard one of the movies Jakeman had showed a girl aged between four and six being raped by two adult men. The prosecutor said "for reasons unknown" the defendant had not been charged with distributing indecent images. Julian Jakeman, of Priory Street, Carmarthen, had previously pleaded guilty on the first day of trial to arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, and to three counts of possesison of indecent images of Categories A, B and C. He has no previous convictions. Megan Williams, for Jakeman said the defendant was working with a counsellor to address previous traumas in his life, and was willing to engage with any support that was made available to him by the court. She said she was aware of the contents of the pre-sentence report but said the defendant's guilty pleas were unequivocal. She asked the court to take into account the timeline in the case, with the offending taking place in October 2021 and the defendant being interviewed first in November 2021 then again in January 2023 with the charging decision ultimately being made in July 2024. Judge Paul Thomas KC said Jakeman had maintained his "laughable" story of being a paedophile hunter in the interview with a probation officer for his pre-sentence report, and said the reality was no meaningful work could be done with the defendant until he first accepted he was a paedophile. He told Jakeman: "It is clear to me, despite your assertions to the author of the pre-sentence report in April this year, that you have a deep-seated sexual interest in children, in particular for young girls. In other words, Mr Jakeman - if you accept it or not - you are a paedophile". The judge said the young girl in the video found on Jakeman's phone was a real child somewhere in the world being "horribly abused and tortured" so people like the defendant could masturbate over the images. With a 10% discount for his guilty plea to the arranging or facilitating offence the defendant was sentenced to 40 months in prison, and with a one-third discount for the images offences - offences admitted at the magistrates court - he was sentenced to eight months to run concurrently. Article continues below Jakeman will serve up to half the 40 months in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. The defendant will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life, and was also made the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.
Miami Herald
20-06-2025
- Miami Herald
Kindergarten ‘Teacher of the Year' accused of sending child porn, MO cops say
A woman who in 2024 was named Teacher of the Year at her Missouri school is accused of sending child porn on social media, authorities say. Erika Morton, a kindergarten teacher in St. Francois County, is charged with five counts of promoting child pornography and five counts of child pornography possession, according to a probable cause statement. Using the social media platform Kik, Morton sent the videos in January and February during a 'sexually charged' conversation with another user, Missouri State Highway Patrol said. She acknowledged the victims in the videos are under the age of 18, troopers said. Morton admitted to sending the content during an interview with troopers, saying she sent them using her phone at her home in Ste. Genevieve, according to the charging documents. 'The suspect is employed as a kindergarten teacher at a public school in St. Francois County and has expressed a sexual interest in children,' authorities said. Farmington R-7 School District did not name the teacher but said in a statement to KSDK that a Truman Learning Center staff member 'is no longer employed' by the district after it learned of the allegations. The district does not believe the 'alleged incidents took place on school grounds or involved any Farmington R-7 students.' As first reported by KSDK, Morton was recognized during a December school board meeting as the school's Teacher of the Year. She taught in the district for 10 years. Records show Morton was jailed on a $1 million bond. Truman Learning Center is in Farmington, about a 70-mile drive south from St. Louis.
