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Henry County School Board member Joe DeVault talks about Internet safety with fifth-graders Kelsie Adams (left) and Ailenne Alcala at Axton Elementary School Wednesday. (Bulletin photo by Kim Barto) |
Thursday, October 23, 2008
By KIM BARTO - Bulletin Staff Writer
If you have children in grade school, chances are they’ve grown up with the Internet and may be more computer-savvy than you are. So how do you keep them safe while they’re online?
Henry County Schools unveiled an Internet safety comic book Wednesday to help both children and parents navigate the ’net safely. Melany Stowe, communications and community relations director for the division, created “A Stranger is Online,” a colorful collection of tips that will be mailed to all fourth- through 12th-grade students.
The small comic books are softcover, but a hardback version will be available in each school library. Fifth-graders at Axton Elementary School received their own hardbound copies during a book release event Wednesday afternoon.
“How many of you know tips for how to be safe on the Internet?” Stowe asked the group.
A handful of students raised their hands at first. But after watching a short film and reading the comic with teachers and school board members in the library, each student was able to share a safety tip he or she had learned.
Fifth-grader J’wuan Horton said he likes to use the Internet to “listen to music and watch stuff,” so he already knew some of the safety tips.
However, he said, “it was a great book,” and it taught him some new ideas.
“I learned not to take any pictures (and post them) on the Internet,” Horton said. “If you put a photo on the Internet, it won’t come back off.”
Student Kelsie Adams said she learned not to give out personal information, such as a phone number or address, “because some people might call you or come and visit you, and you don’t know who they are.”
“Don’t give out your password,” said fifth-grader Ailenne Alcala.
“Don’t meet with anybody from the Internet” if you don’t know the person in real life, said classmate Michael Mack.
Fifth-grader Perla Contreras said she learned, “Don’t open e-mail from anybody you don’t know.”
Sharing online safety tips was a goal of the schools’ Internet Safety Task Force, which began last fall. Originally, the task force wanted to send a letter or brochure of tips home to parents, but a comic book seemed like the most exciting way to communicate the ideas, Stowe said.
“We want parents to realize there are dangers, and they do need to make children aware of it,” Stowe said.
The idea is not to scare students, but to help them realize how easy it is for strangers to masquerade online as different people or steal their personal information, she said.
“That’s why parents and teachers need to remind them that when you’re on the Internet, you open yourself up to anybody in the world,” Stowe said.
Embarq donated $3,000 to print color copies of “A Stranger is Online,” and Stanley Furniture, American of Martinsville and Kimbanet donated a total of $800 to cover the cost of mailing the books to students.
“This is a great way to partner with the school system,” said Vernon Fraley, Embarq manager of media relations.
Supporting the project was “a no-brainer” for Embarq, said Embarq representative Jill Renton. Internet safety is “something parents need to understand, as well,” Renton said.
School Board Chairman Kathy Rogers was one of the school board members who discussed the book with Axton students.
“I encouraged the kids at my table to read it with their parents,” Rogers said. As for the students, “They really responded well to the format of the film and the comic book,” she said.
In Iriswood District Representative Curtis Millner Sr.’s group, most of the students said they spend about 30 minutes a day online, while one spends much longer surfing the Internet every day, he said.
“A lot depends on parents keeping an eye on what their children are doing online,” Millner said. |
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