Kdcop’s Weblog

Inspirational E-Mail from a High School Girl

Dear Keith,

You visited High School North a few weeks ago, and I had never gotten around to thanking you. I am a freshman at the school. I just wanted to share my story with you, and how your presentation affected me.

I’ve had my jokes within my group of friends, as in the small, meaningless insults everyone gives and receives. However, during my seventh grade year I made some bad decisions (which is a different story) and ever since then, up until the beginning of my freshman year, people have been bringing up this horrible incident. I had cut myself and was contemplating suicide. However, one close friend convinced me that I was worth more than I thought.

Lately I had been feeling somewhat depressed, and I was worried I would fall back into a suicidal mindset, but then we saw your presentation. I’m not quite exactly sure what caused my change of heart, but I feel much more confident after seeing your presentation. Keep on doing this for as many schools as you can, because it can save lives.

Being and author does “NOT” make you an expert

You know, I have been listening and watching television shows where they always bring on an “expert” who has authored a book. I go to speaker trainings and seminars where they tell you that if you write a book you become an instant expert in your field. I have heard that authoring a book brings you instant credibility.

After years of hearing no named people who write a book and are all of the sudden an expert on their topic it drives me crazy.

The only way you are an expert is if you have been there, done that and struggled or worked your way through the classes and certifications to become that “expert”

One last thing……..Authoring a book, in no way, makes you a great speaker. It doesn’t even make you a good speaker. In order to be a professional speaker who gets paid, you need to be a dynamic, engaged leader with a gift or a LOT of training to stand up in front of people and deliver a message.

Anyone can stand in front of a podium or on a stage and fill your heads with ideas, but if your not able to motivate that audience enough to where they want to move and make things happen, you are just another talking head.

Your audience should leave your speech with resources and tools to implement to make a change in this world. They shouldn’t leave your presentation just wanting to buy your book because you took the time to write down your opinion on what you feel matters.

Those are my thoughts…..Visit KDCOP.com and feel free to leave comments of your own if you wish.

Asbury Park Press article…Keith Dunn Interviewed….”With great popularity, great concerns grow for Snapchat app”

This article is from the Asbury Park Press in NJ.  Written by Alesha Williams.

How often does 17-year-old Caroline Moore use the photo and video messaging app known as Snapchat?

“Pretty much all day,” every day, like most of her friends, says the Colts Neck High School senior: They snap photos of themselves making weird faces. Of oddball items they find on store shelves. Of their pets’ antics, the teen says.

All that snapping has added up to a whopping 1 billion photos shared on the app since its founding in 2011.

But as fast as Snapchat’s popularity has spread, so have concerns that it isn’t all fun and games.

While the app features a timer that appears to delete photos in a matter of seconds, experts say that feature may encourage ‘sexting’ and other behavior that kids would otherwise avoid for fear of leaving a permanent e-record. Worse, tech reports have been abuzz this month with news of a workaround through a PC connection that allows users to save Snapchat video without notifying the sender.

Keith Dunn, a former Cumberland County detective on the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force who now offers online safety programs for kids, says he’s seen Snapchat issues cropping up already in the schools with which he works, with students as young as the third grade taking revealing photographs.

“They’re like, ‘Hey, I can take this photograph and it will be deleted. You see me, it goes away, it won’t be a big deal.’

“The big problem is that kids learn (how to manipulate technology) as fast as technology changes,” Dunn said. “And what I’ve found as a detective … sexual predators learn even faster than the kids. Two seconds, and a girl could be victimized for the rest of her life.”

The fine print in the app’s privacy policy says it does not guarantee photos’ deletion.

Founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy were unavailable for comment about the concerns. But the company says on its blog that the app encourages “sharing authentic moments with friends,” rather than carefully cultivated images users might post on sites like Facebook and Instagram, where images tend to remain on display.

“It’s not all about fancy vacations, sushi dinners or beautiful sunsets,” their blog reads.

It’s what Shore area young people claim they like most about the app, in addition to the sense that someone would have to go out of their way to save their snaps. Viewers can save screen shots of a photo or video but the sender is typically notified by Snapchat when this occurs.

“I like the fact that you can send pictures of yourself you wouldn’t normally and they disappear after a certain amount of time,” said Kerri Bridgman, an 18-year-old senior at Wall High. “Your friends think they’re funny but it’s not something you would want everyone to see.”

She says she receives snaps four or five times a day, more than she sends them — like the video of a friend’s chair collapsing or photos of friends wrapping their hair around water bottles to look like the Dr. Seuss character Cindy Lou Who. Friends often send snaps home from college or will send a snap of what’s going on in the cafeteria to someone who’s in the gym.

According to a blog post by Spiegel, most of the users are high school students “using Snapchat as a new way to pass notes in class…We saw peaks of activity during the school day and dips on the weekends.”

And she and her friends feel safe doing it, Bridgman says.

“You’re picking who you send to,” Bridgman said. “You’re putting the trust in them that they’re not going to show to other people.”

Most important, 18-year-old Olivia Hayes, also a Wall senior, says she wouldn’t send pics of something she would seriously regret, anyway.

“I mean, I guess there’s always going to be those kids that (send racy messages),” Hayes said. “But it’s not like I’m sending anything that, if it was to be shared, I’d be so embarrassed about.”

D.A.R.E. NJ and FASRO Conference 2013

I finalized my biography and program description for the Florida Association of School Resource Officers which I am a featured speaker at on July 18th, 2013 in Orlando Florida.

I also was asked to bring in one of my favorite people whose story of getting kidnapping and escape is the most inspirational that iI have ever heard. Alicia will be the keynote speaker at the annualk D.A.R.E, NJ conference in Atlantic City in February 2013.

Also, the 2013 school year is ramping up with many requests for student as well as parent assmblies. Lookinhg forwrad to a busy, yet amazing end of the school year.

There is still time to book me if you would like a cyber safety presentation at your school. Just go to http://www.kdcop.com and fill out an online request form.

Cyber safety expert to speak on Internet safety for youth » TCPalm Mobile (User story from )

http://m.tcpalm.com/news/2012/oct/11/cyber-safety-expert-to-speak-on-internet-safety-fo/

D.A.R.E. NJ

Had a great time speaking to the new D.A.R.E NJ officers at the DOT today.  They were an amazing audience and a smart group of police officers.  See ya’ll at the D.A.R.E. NJ conference in Atlantic City in Feb’13. 

Huffman ISD Reccomendation

To Whom It May Concern:

Mr. Keith Dunn presented two assemblies to our middle school students on September 18th, 2012. His presentation contained current, relevent information and was presented in an interactive and engaging manner for our students. He was well planned and very professional in his interactions with both faculty and students. He was also very willing to work within our budget and schedule parameters to make sure that our students got the very best possible learning experience. I would highly recommend Mr. Dunn for any Internet safety presentation needs your district may have.

Sincerely,

Carrie Slayton
Instructional Technology Coordinator
Huffman ISD
cslayton@huffmanisd.net