October 3, 2007
Media Contact: Sandi Copes
Phone: (850) 245-0150
Attorney General McCollum Brings CyberSafety Program to Brevard County
~ Statewide program is underway to educate children and keep them safe ~
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today visited West Shore Junior/Senior High School in Melbourne and spoke to students, teachers and administrators about the importance of cybersafety. Designed to empower children to use the internet safely, the cybersafety program combines real-life stories and examples to help students identify the ways they could be victimized online. Members of the Attorney General’s Child Predator CyberCrime Unit have been bringing the 50-minute cybersafety program to middle and high school students statewide since the beginning of the school year.
“We are committed to bringing cybersafety education to all middle and high school students in Florida and by doing so, giving them the skills needed to protect themselves online,” said Attorney General Bill McCollum. “Technology plays a significant role in our children’s lives. However, as technology evolves and becomes more advanced, so do the individuals who prey on our children. We must take every precaution to keep kids safe and that process begins with education and outreach.”
The Attorney General’s CyberCrime Victim Advocates teach the cybersafety program which specifically targets middle and high school students. During the presentations, the students receive information about internet dangers as well as tactics used by online child predators. They also learn what constitutes a cybercrime and how to report it. An open line of communication between the students and the victim advocates is strongly encouraged to give the opportunity for private disclosure of any offenses. Students are taught how to recognize when a friend is in “cyber danger” and what they can do to help. The victim advocates also offer counseling to any child who discloses victimization and can refer any reported offenses to law enforcement for investigation.
In addition to receiving support from the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, the Attorney General’s cybersafety initiative has also received committed support from the Florida Association of School Resource Officers (SRO). The SRO Program is a collaborative effort by certified law enforcement officers, educators, students, parents and the community to offer law-related educational programs in the schools. The purpose of the program is to reduce crime, drug abuse and violence and provide a safe school environment. The administrators of the school cybersafety program will share appropriate information with the school resource officers in the local schools so they can keep their eyes and ears open to potential "hot spots." They can then focus on those students and their specific concerns. West Shore Junior/Senior High School has a long standing commitment toward educating their students on cybersafety and its School Resource Officer has established an i-Safe Club which teaches the i-Safe internet safety course to parents and students. The students are then deputized to talk to their peers about cybersafety.
“We at West Shore Jr/Sr High School are very excited to be hosting Attorney General Bill McCollum as he speaks to a group of our students about CyberSafety. His effort aligns perfectly with our schoolwide i-Safe initiative currently in place and we are again grateful for his presence in drawing attention to this critical issue,” said West Shore Principal Rick Fleming. “Cybercrime is one of the fastest growing types of criminal behavior affecting our young people and we need to arm them and their parents with the most up-to-date information.”
To complement the school cybersafety program, the CyberCrime Unit has also developed the Internet Student Advisory Council, designed to match technology-savvy teenagers with the unit’s cybercrime law enforcement team. The unit’s investigators will work closely with the students to identify new and popular internet trends, including those that could be potentially harmful to young people. Using information provided by the student advisors, cybersafety presenters speak to kids in their own language and empower them to protect themselves and one another.
In May, Attorney General McCollum’s office launched a new cybersafety website, located at http://www.safeflorida.net/safesurf, to provide valuable information to adults, teens and kids about staying safe while surfing the internet. The SafeSurf children’s page includes several entertaining and educational games that teach internet safety. The teen SafeSurf page offers tips on safeguarding personal information and avoiding dangerous situations. It also provides a forum for stories from teenagers who were victimized on the internet. The web page for adults offers a guide to popular internet language used in chat rooms and gives safety advice on how to monitor what your children are doing on the internet.
An additional component has now been added to the SafeSurf website for Florida’s principals. The site allows middle and high school principals to log onto a calendar developed specifically for them and register their school to receive the Attorney General’s cybersafety presentation. For more information on the Attorney General’s cybersafety initiative, please visit http://www.safeflorida.net.