Swampscott to hold Internet safety seminar

SWAMPSCOTT – February is Internet Safety Month and the school district is holding an Internet safety seminar for parents.The district has scheduled an Internet Safety Program on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. at Swampscott High School.The free district-wide program is open to all parents and guardians and will be conducted by the Essex District Attorney’s office using information provided by NetSmartz.org.School officials said the Internet Safety Program is for parents of school aged children and the goal is to empower parents to protect their children from the dangers lurking in cyberspace.Technology Director Kevin Kaczynski said the program for parents is designed to compliment the age-appropriate Internet safety programs students receive in school.”Open dialogue with families will complement this mission in the schools,” Kaczynski said. “With the infusion of new technologies, it is imperative that the necessary tools are provided to protect our children and allow for a continual and consistent system of education for our students, parents and staff.”In the last couple of years, there were numerous incidents in town involving students and inappropriate use of the Internet, which required police intervention.A couple of years ago at least six fifth grade students at Stanley Elementary School received threatening instant messages, which included images of guns. According to police, the sender had specific information including names of students and the school they attended.That was not the first time Swampscott Police have been made aware of problems with students using AOL Instant Messenger inappropriately. According to Detective Rose Cheever students at the middle school have used instant messages to threaten and bully other students. She said high school students in town have used Facebook.com and myspace.com, which are social networking sites, to bully other students.”The Internet can be a dangerous place,” she said. “We’ve seen online bullying and threats at all grade levels, even in the elementary schools. Middle school students in particular don’t seem to know the ramifications of their actions online. Parents need to learn how to monitor online activities and keep their children safe on the Internet. Predators are also something parents should be aware of. Parents need to know what’s out there and learn ways to keep their child safe.”But the dangers of Internet use are not limited to social networking sites and AOL Instant Messenger, according to Cheever.There was an incident in town where four juveniles went online, downloaded instructions to build a bomb from common household ingredients and proceeded to build it. The experiment went awry and one of the teens was severely burned.