Internet Safety and our Children

On August 11th, Liz Rabin suggested our Health curriculum "include internet safety and how prolific predators are out there. For the school system to not present these topics is, in my opinion, simply not preparing our kids for the real world."

Liz and I have spoken about this before and I am in complete agreement.  One easy thing we can do is to encourage our Parent Teacher Organizations to take advantage of the presentation offered by the Albemarle County Police Department on Internet safety (flyer PDF linked here).  When I was PTO President at Murray Elementary, we invited them to do a presentation and it was eye opening and well received. 

This issue also hits close to home for me because, after that presentation, I discovered in the "real world" a criminal had placed a hidden camera in our home during a major renovation.  Evidence recovered at the criminal's residence included a library of tapes and a computer.  I worked with Delegate Rob Bell and Detective Steve Wilkins to have the unlawful videotaping crime changed from a misdemeanor to a felony in Virginia.  In fact, Delegate Bell told me recently that someone was convicted under this toughened law this year in a nearby County.

Because of my experience and Liz's feedback, I have added this to my list of issues to examine in our Health curriculum during the year ahead.  Brian

Comments

[Patty Cornell]

I think you are right on target with this one Brian. Thank you for working to make this type of crime a felony! I love your blog also!