~ CyberSafety program already in more than 150 schools throughout the
state this year ~
TALLAHASSEE, FL Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that his CyberSafety Education program has already exceeded the 75,000 student mark for the 2008/2009 school year, an important milestone in just over three months. The interactive 50-minute program combines real-life stories and examples to help middle and high school students identify ways they could be victimized by online predators and to encourage safe internet use.
The most important weapon our children have in the fight against internet child predators is education, said Attorney General McCollum, who added that his CyberCrime Unit has arrested 42 men so far this year. I strongly encourage all middle and high school principals to make sure their students have the opportunity to receive this life-saving internet safety message, and parents should ask their childs school to schedule presentations if they havent done so yet.
This fall, the Attorney Generals Office announced a new partnership with the Florida Association of School Resource Officers (FASRO) to help bring the CyberSafety Education program to more students. School Resource Officers throughout the state have been trained to present the program in their schools and have to date completed more than 190 presentations.
Through this CyberSafety partnership with the Attorney Generals Office, school resource officers throughout the state are saving lives and making a phenomenal impact on Floridas middle and high students, said FASRO President-elect Jamie Meeks, a School Resource Officer with the Leon County Sheriffs Office.
Available to middle and high school students since September of 2007, the Attorney General’s CyberSafety Education program has been endorsed by the Florida Department of Education, the Florida School Board Association, the Florida Association of School Administrators, the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, the Florida School Resource Officers Association, the Florida Police Chiefs Association, the Florida Sheriffs Association and the Florida Commission on the Status of Women. The presentations have also been hailed as among the best in the nation by John Walsh, co-founder of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and host of Americas Most Wanted.
Designated school personnel may schedule presentations by logging onto http://www.safeflorida.net/safeschools and following the prompts. All eligible schools have been assigned passwords by the Attorney Generals Office to assist the scheduling process.
