DA’s office visits Tracy School for Internet safety lesson

LYNN – A representative from the office of Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett paid a visit to the Tracy Elementary School Tuesday to give students and parents an important lesson in Internet safety.In a time when nearly every student not only has access to a computer at school or home, but uses those devices to communicate with friends via instant message, social networking sites or email, the focus in the education community has shifted to making sure that students understand the dangers of the Internet and how to protect themselves at a young age.The effort is not just a fight against sexual predators or school bullies who may post inappropriate or damaging comments about a classmate, it is an overall lesson in intelligent web surfing, educating students on the dangers of SPAM email, Internet scams or unethical Web sites.Using components included on the Web site Netsmartzkids.org, Erin Queeney of Blodgett’s Juvenile Crime department hosted a presentation for students in the morning and parents at night that outlined some of the unexpected dangers of the Internet, and taught students and parents how to recognize problems and report predators.The basic theme of the presentation was “what you see isn’t always what you get on the Internet,” focusing on the fact that without meeting the person who is sending messages or email, an individual has no idea whether that person’s intentions are legitimate.Using the video presentation, Queeney introduced students to five characters representing six dangerous Internet situations. One character sent SPAM emails containing “uncomfortable” pictures, while another “Hot Head” sent angry and mean messages to a classmate as personal attacks. Another character taught students never to give personal information to anyone on the Internet unless a parent is watching. That character was joined by a predator, who pretended to be someone else to become friends with a student and a “Numbutt” who spent all day on the computer and watching TV instead of playing outside.”The point of this exercise is to show that whatever people tell you on the Internet may not always be true,” said Queeney. “Even if you talk to somebody online for hours, if you haven’t seen that person in real life you don’t know them.”Blodgett’s office gives this presentation to schools across the county in cooperation with Netsmartzkids.org, a national Internet safety organization.NetSmartz is an interactive, educational safety resource from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) for children aged five to 17, parents, guardians, educators, and law enforcement. It uses age-appropriate, 3-D activities to teach children how to stay safer on the Internet.The goal of the NetSmartz Workshop is to extend the safety awareness of children to prevent victimization and increase self-confidence whenever they go online.