On October 13 at 7 p.m. in the Tyrone Area High School auditorium, Mr. Chuck Favata, a computer specialist from Council Rock School District, will present a program on internet safety.
The public is encouraged to attend this very timely presentation.
Teens and pre-teens spend an ever increasing amount of time on the Internet. The average young person spends 13 hours a week watching TV and 16 hours online.
According to Vicki Aults, Tyrone Area School District Technology coordinator, recent cases in the area have involved students falling prey to unscrupulous people via meetings in chat rooms. Given the prevalence of this threat, the school district is at a point where it must alert parents and other adults of the dangers involved in seemingly benign conversations on the internet.
A simple phrase can easily give a predator all the information he or she may need to track and trace the victim.
Every child knows not to talk to strangers but somewhere along the line this message has been lost when using the internet. A predator knows this and therein lays the danger. Through a simulation of internet activity, participants will become aware of the tactics used by pedophiles to elicit information from a prospective target.
A presentation graphics program is used to simulate internet activity with a question and answer session. In the program, screen shots of actual pedophile sites and online conversations will be shown – along with examples of tracing programs and internet resources that are used to trace students.
Attend this presentation to become informed and encourage children to follow the same safety rules on the internet as they do in everyday situations.
Favata is a recognized expert and has presented at the Pennsylvania Educational Technology Expo and Conference, PA School Libraries/Public Libraries Cooperation State Conferences, National Educational Computing Conference and National Middle School Association Conference.
