EMPOWERMENT BEGINS WITH PARENTS
Union County schools have joined with I-SAFE America, a non-profit, government-funded Internet safety foundation as part of a national awareness campaign to present monthly parent night training informational presentations on Internet safety issues. Parents of Union County youth, you MUST be empowered with the knowledge and skills to recognize the dangers that lurk on the Internet in order to protect your children from becoming the next victim.
The FBI states that online sexual exploitation of children and child pornography is one of the most significant crime problems it faces today.
A recent I-SAFE study revealed that children said if their parents knew where they were online or with whom they chatted, they (parents) "would have concerns." Everyday our children face dangers online which we never would have dreamed as kids. We were taught by our parents not to talk to strangers, and we teach our children not to talk to strangers.
More than a third of students in grades 5 through 8 surveyed by I-SAFE said their parents would disapprove if they knew what they did, where they went, or with whom they chatted on the Internet. More than half of students give out their name, sex, and age online. Just under half of all 7th graders visit Internet chat rooms. Nearly 70% of 8th graders admit to having sent a hurtful or angry online message. Over 30% of high school seniors have posted their photo on the web and up to 20% have met someone face-to-face they came to know online.
The cyber world is every bit as real as the physical world with adverse consequences that can last a lifetime. The only difference between the two is that the virtual world never sleeps. No matter what time your children are online, someone else - a stranger - is with them. Anyone with an Internet connection has access to your children whenever and wherever they go online
According to a survey by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, only 1 in 4 youth who received a sexual solicitation online reported the incident to an adult.
If parents, grandparents, caregivers - if adults don't know how to identify online risks and dangers and how to safely respond to them, children easily can become entrapped in the darkest, most detestable realms of human imagination. As a society, we do not allow children behind the wheel of a car without training and a license, so why do we allow them to drive the Information Superhighway without teaching them how to do it safely? When your child is online at home, at a neighbor's house, in the classroom, at the school or public library, or on a cell phone he or she is vulnerable to the dangers lurking on the Internet.
For information or questions, please email or call Bob Williams at 706-745-2483 or Mellissa Wallis at 706-299-3775.