Internet safety topic of program
PERRYOPOLIS – Parents of students in the Frazier School District can learn more about Internet safety with topics ranging from predators to identity theft in a presentation on I-SAFE slated for Tuesday in the high school auditorium. Founded in 1998, I-SAFE is a non-profit foundation that focuses on educating students on how to avoid dangerous, inappropriate or unlawful online behavior established through K-12 curriculum and community outreach programs.
The program is used in all 50 states, including Washington, D.C., and Department of Defense schools across the world.
Jim Natale, middle school computer teacher and computer club sponsor, will provide information on predators, cyber bullying, intellectual property, identity theft and hackers from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Natale said he learned about I-SAFE from an in-service program at Intermediate Unit 1 and was so impressed with it that he decided to become a mentor in order to teach others about its significance.
According to the Web site www.i-safe.org, the program is designed with an education component that provides students with dynamic, interactive, up-to-date Internet safety curriculum lessons online, in the classroom and in the community.
In return, these lessons employ peer-to-peer communication and cooperative learning activities to help students retain the information.
A live, online-facilitated training system is also available so teachers don’t have to take time away from their students.
In addition, parents are educated about hazards in cyberspace while students can serve as mentors using the program’s information to teach others how to protect themselves online.
“The Internet is perhaps the most significant invention to impact the world since the personal computer,” said Natale.
While the benefits of a computer are quite evident, Natale said it contains places, people and situations that can present a danger to families and their children.
“I-Safe has prepared lessons to educate parents on what the current state of the Internet really looks like and how our children fit into it,” said Natale.
Natale added that permitting children to have a computer in their bedroom can pose dire problems since they usually aren’t monitored.
“Children are spending more and more time on the Internet in chat rooms and blogs…parents need to know the terms and to be aware of what their children are saying online,” said Natale.
In a recent I-Safe survey, Natale said 80 percent of youth were found to spend at least one hour on the Internet every week. “They chat at home, at school or on their cell phones but what’s different is that instead of talking they are typing to people all over the world.”
According to Natale, the presentation is aimed to open the eyes of parents as to what can be found on the Internet and how they can protect themselves, their children and the future.