Deputy Offers Special Program on Web Safety
Deputy Wants Kids to be Safe on the Web, So He's Offering Special Program By Brad Hicks 01/26/2006 Ever wonder what your kid is really doing on the Internet? Ever wonder if the person on the other end of that chat or instant message is really who he says he is? Ever wonder how much access people have to your children because of their computer use? You can get some of those answers, thanks to a program being offered by Leon Root, a deputy and D.A.R.E. instructor in the Franklin County Sheriff's Department. NetSmartz is the name of the trade-marked program, and it involves about a 45-minute presentation by Root using an interactive Power Point. The program includes some real-life testimonies of people negatively affected by Internet activity. It also has a startling description of how a perpetrator can, in as little as 20 minutes, build a collection of information that can lead someone straight to your child's school, home, and the route in between. The program was put together by the Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. It is distributed by the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force. Root first saw it at the Iowa Sex Assault Investigators Conference, and obtained a copy that he can show anyone who is interested. He said the school staff members at CAL and at the school in Thornton have already seen the program. A local mothers' club was among the first to view it. Students have also seen it. The program, with information and animation, is fast-moving and designed to keep students' attention, and to alert adults to inherent dangers of allowing kids to use computers unchecked. The program teaches people how to not give personal information on the Internet, in a compelling story called "Tracking Teresa" about a 13-year-old girl who wound up meeting with a 56-year-old man. It addresses the facts that many youth who go on-line are, at some point, exposed to inappropriate material, sexual solicitation, harassment, and theft of personal information. The program also gives safety tips for using the Internet. Root said that the biggest no-no is to allow young people to have their own computers in their own rooms. The program said that there need to be strict rules for using the Internet. It also said that parents need to be open with children with regard to potential Internet abuses. Root, when offering the programs to youth, has Internet safety pledges for them to sign. He also has tip sheets for parents on the lingo that is used in instant messaging and in chat rooms. He said that people are mistaken if they think these types of crimes and attempts on children don't happen here. He noted a recent case in Klemme in which a man from out-of-state traveled here to meet a young teenage girl he "met" on the Internet, not knowing he was dealing with the girl's mom and the Hancock County Sheriff's Department. Root said he is working on an Internet case at this time. The deputy said he is highly committed to heading off potential problems, and said that he will give programs whenever and wherever requested, even on his own time and days off. If people are interested, they can contact him at the sheriff's department at 641-456-2731. If you want more information about NetSmartz, you can go its web site at www.netsmartz.org http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15990714&BRD=1980&PAG=461&dept_id=177415&rfi=6