Despite the fact that millennials have grown up with technology like smartphones, social media and the Internet, there are still many young people who fail to properly assess the risks associated with these tools.
Between trends like early adoption of new apps and the constant changes of the tech landscape, it can be easy for juveniles to make mistakes like assuming they are anonymous when they are not. Add in the fact that young people aren’t always mature enough to appreciate the long-term consequences of bad decisions and it is no surprise that students wind up in some serious trouble when their digital activities are unlawful.
For instance, one young woman is now facing drug charges after she advertised on her Facebook account that she was selling marijuana. Not surprisingly, someone saw her post and alerted the police, who arrested her after executing a search warrant.
Kids can also get in trouble for harassment or assault when they use their phones or social media accounts to intimidate, threaten or harass someone else. Too often, young people assume their communications are private just because they lock their phones or delete messages. Unfortunately, they can learn the hard way that their exchanges were not as private or deleted as they thought.
Young people can also get into serious trouble if they engage in illegal relationships online. For instance, if a 19-year-old college student meets someone online and goes on to engage in sexual activity with that person, the student can wind up facing a lifetime of registering as a sex offender if the person they meet is actually a minor.
As exciting, helpful and necessary as things like social media, smartphones and apps are, they can and do become a liability when someone uses them to engage in illegal activity, knowingly or not. If you or your child is now facing criminal charges like those mentioned in this post, it can be crucial that you consult an experienced defense attorney as soon as possible.