As the fight to protect kids from threats on social media continues, former Orange County sergeant Clayton Cranford spoke about online safety for K-12 students at a California administrators’ convention Tuesday afternoon.
The former sergeant and school resource officer attended the Association of California School Administrators Every Child Counts Symposium and presented on how unchecked social media use puts children at risk.
This comes as administrators across California are preparing to adapt to the Phone-Free School Act, which will require “every school district, charter school and county office of education to adopt a policy limiting or prohibiting the use of smartphones by July 1, 2026.”
“It’s been needed for a while,” Cranford said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill in September 2024, which intends to help curb cyberbullying and increase socialization and focus in the classroom.
Up to 95% of youth ages 13-17 report using a social media platform, with more than a third saying they use social media “almost constantly,” according to a 2023 U.S. General Surgeon advisory on the harmful effects of social media on youth mental health.
Worried parents have been concerned they won’t be able to contact their child at school, but the bill notes educators will be required to allow students to use their phone in case of an emergency or a perceived threat.
“What parents don’t understand is that giving kids a phone does not make them safer,” Cranford said. “It makes them less safe.”
Since 2013, Cranford has been an author and an owner of Cyber Safety Cop, a company that gives presentations and offers courses on youth safety to schools, parents and community leaders.
He travels across the country giving around 300 presentations each year about drug access, gun violence, sexual exploitation, cyberbullying and mental health struggles.
Cranford also notifies parents about an emerging topic: artificial intelligence and how AI contributes to sexual exploitation. Students across the country have used “nudifying apps” that have emerged in the last year to sexually exploit their peers.
Five Beverly Vista Middle School students were expelled in February 2024 for using generative AI to create and share fake nude images of their classmates, and an investigation into a similar situation was conducted at Laguna Beach High School in April 2024.
As families, teachers and administrators work to curb these and related threats to youth safety, Cranford said there needs to be more accountability for the creators of predatory websites and applications.
Since Cranford began working with parents and schools over two decades ago, he says one of the top concerns parents have about their kids is their child’s relationship with technology.
“What makes a difference with kids is reaching them emotionally about a subject,” Cranford said.
His presentations consist of real stories about real youth with whom he has interacted as a resource officer who were victims to the dangers of social media.
“When they can relate to another student, they think about it. That’s when we start seeing kids doing things differently.”
Kids are always vulnerable to making bad decisions, Cranford said, and it is the responsibility of the adults in their lives to better understand their digital world.
His advice to parents?
“Less is more, structure is good, accountability is necessary, and don’t say yes to applications and social media before you understand how they work.”
