12/18/2008
Attorney General Encourages CyberSafety over the Holidays
~ As schools let out, many children will spend more time online ~
TALLAHASSEE, FL – As Florida schools let out for the holidays, Attorney General Bill McCollum today issued an advisory encouraging parents to talk to their children about cybersafety. During the holiday break, children have more leisure time and often spend more time on the internet. The Attorney General emphasized the importance of taking a proactive approach to teaching children safe internet use and encouraged parents to become familiar with the websites their children visit and programs they use.
"Parents can make cybersafety a priority in their homes by talking to their children about internet safety and how to avoid attacks from internet child predators," said Attorney General McCollum. "Education is one of the best tools children have to protect themselves while using the internet."
Last Christmas Eve, the Attorney General’s CyberCrime Unit arrested a Seminole County man who traveled to meet a young girl for a sexual encounter. The man had met the teenager in a chatroom and sexually solicited her, but her parents alerted the CyberCrime Unit and the man was subsequently taken into custody. That man is now serving a 63-month prison sentence.
The Attorney General offered the following list of internet safety tips for parents to share with their children:
- Children should be discouraged from chatting online with someone they do not know in real life;
- Never give out or post personal information like last names, addresses and dates of birth;
- Never post photos or use screen names which may reveal personal information such as age or school name, or photos that may be considered provocative or seductive;
- Children should never make plans to meet someone who they have only met online without a parent present; and
- Always report any inappropriate chatting or sexual solicitations received online.
Additional tips on safe internet surfing for parents, students and educators are on the Attorney General’s cybersafety website at http://www.safeflorida.net/safesurf.
The Attorney General also encouraged Florida’s middle and high school principals to set aside time during the spring semester to schedule cybersafety presentations for their students. The Attorney General’s 50-minute interactive CyberSafety Presentation has reached over 85,000 students this school year with real-life stories and examples about safe internet use and the tactics commonly used by internet child predators.
Principals can go to http://www.safeflorida.net/safeschools to schedule cybersafety presentations with a volunteer from the Attorney General’s Office or one of several hundred school resource officers specially trained in cybersafety.