Officer: Drugs and sex connection is real threat — Program at school on addiction prevention

“Sex sells.” What does that have to do with drugs and alcohol? Everything, according to David Gomez.

Through the years, the man who works for the Boise Idaho County Sheriff’s Office and the Idaho City Police Department, travels the nation speaking to students, parents, school officials and police to help end the scourge of addiction.

He spent Friday, Oct. 25, at Shelter Island School, meeting with groups of students at several grade levels and later with parents, school officials, police officers and some Town officials to deliver information, warnings and ways to help students avoid a destructive path that too often turns deadly.

It was the second in a three-part program financed with grant money secured by the Shelter Island Police Department, establishing the program in conjunction with the school.

To pay for the drugs they’re using, many have discovered there’s money to be had in selling nude photos, Officer Gomez said. An alarming number of middle and high school students in Officer Gomez’s and other’s experience are involved in the sordid practice. His findings come from working with students in multiple school districts through many years, he said.

So how does it all work?

A scammer poses on a social media site as someone who gradually builds a relationship with a student who doesn’t know the person with whom they’re communicating. The scammer may be from another country and certainly is not the person he purports to be. In his online information, he may well appear as an attractive teen-aged boy attracted to the girl who has responded to his invitation to connect. She is flattered by his attention to her and eventually, he may request that she send him a photo of her feet. Seems innocent enough and she may do so.

The requests become increasingly for more revealing photos until eventually he asks for a nude photo. If she resists, his response may well be, “I thought you were more mature than that.”

Eventually, many girls send the nude photo and by then the scammer has a list of her contacts — family and friends — and requests money under threat that the scammer will send her nude photos to all her contacts.

She doesn’t have the $500 or more the scammer is requesting. Get it from your parents’ credit cards, the scammer instructs.

Preposterous?

Officer Gomez was there to say it is happening  and he calls it “sextortion,” blackmailing for money under threat of exposing nude pictures of a girl who has been lured into sharing one or more photos with the scammer.

What’s worse is the girls discover there’s money in trading on their bodies and selling their own photos, he said. Depending on what they are willing to sell, from stills to videos, they discover they can charge anywhere from $50 to $75 for still photos and up to $1,000 for a sex video. A porn video can fetch thousands.

Where are these kids connecting? Snapchat enables them to communicate without their parents able to see the communications. TikTok is another of the worst violators. OnlyFans is one many parents may not know even exists. It enables teens to purchase sexual photos. Even Instagram enables them to share multiple videos of sexual acts and presents drugs as glamorous.

Roblox was a site developed for children between the ages of 6 and 12 — a site parents have been using as a babysitter for their young kids. But it’s not all innocent, Officer Gomez said. “Roblox is the ultimate virtual universe that lets you create, share experiences with friends, and be anything you can imagine,” its description on the internet says.

Telegram boasts it’s “used for content sharing, encrypted, messaging/online to chat, money transfers/online payments, online relationships, photo/video sharing, screen capture and voice chat.” Lots of drugs and sexual content are available at its site, he said.

What substances are students choosing? It starts with vaping that advertises as a safe alternative to cigarettes. They’re sharing prescription pills with one another and drinking alcohol.

They become so addicted to vaping they can’t wait until the end of a class to use it. Instead, they sneak it, blowing smoke down their shirts, he said. Girls stuff the metal containers down their bras and if they get caught by metal detectors, they claim it’s an underwire bra that is causing the detector to sound.

Of course, school officials aren’t about to touch the girl, but will call parents to report their suspicions. It’s not unusual for a parent to say there’s no concern because they think vaping is safe. Instead, it contains more nicotine than regular cigarettes and is addictive.

Students see drug use as a way of belonging and hear appeals to avoid substances as a request to give up their friends, he said. Marijuana is in use despite decreasing a person’s motivation and vaping and marijuana are being marketed to young kids.

They’re also using  Xanax, Adderall, morphine, oxycodone, nitrous oxide and fentanyl; all are accessible.

“The chance of getting a deadly dose of fentanyl is pretty high,” Officer Gomez said. LSD is still popular and it poses another problem. It takes about 20 minutes for LSD to affect the user. Many, feeling nothing after a very few minutes, think it’s not working and use it again — two or three times. By the time it hits, they have overdosed.

How should parents fight back in an effort to protect their children?

Talk to them about your values. Make time for family dinners — no cellphones allowed — and talk about what’s going on in their lives. Don’t allow use of any computers, cellphones, iPads or other such equipment behind closed doors. While there are hidden sites, check their cellphones.

Your intervention just might mean saving their lives.