Youth Officer Offers Tips

On Internet Safety

By Tanjua Damon

Fifth grade students have been receiving Internet safety training by Newtown Youth Officer Dana Schubert to help students become more aware of the dangers the Internet poses without students even realizing it.

Sixteen one-hour sessions of Staying Safe Online have been given to fifth grade students. It was Hawley School’s turn on Monday when fifth graders entered the computer lab to become safer Internet users.

“Staying Safe Online is a course that alerts to some of the hazards that can be found on the Internet,” Officer Schubert said. “There are individuals on the Internet who are looking for children to harm or take advantage of.”

Officer Schubert told the students never to reveal private information about themselves like their real names, addresses, phone numbers, or age to people online that they are not familiar with. He also recommended to students who have screen names that reveal their age or birth date to change them to something else.

Newtown is one of the leading school districts teaching the course to fifth graders, according to Officer Schubert. The course aims to have students use responsible, respectful Internet practices that will lead to them being safer when they are online. It also makes them aware of dangers posed by sexual predators who victimize children on the Internet, informs children about the hazards of disclosing personal information about themselves and their families to people they meet online.

“There are places on the Internet you don’t need to go for good reason,” Officer Schubert told the students. “The Internet can be a dangerous place if you are not thinking. You guys know right from wrong, good from bad.”

Privacy is an important aspect of the Internet and using the Internet is something special that is available to everyone. It was also explained to the students that if someone is being disrespectful or uses offensive language that they can report that person to the Internet server.

“The Internet is a privilege not a right. I don’t have the right to hurt someone or use and abuse the Internet,” Officer Schubert said. “You want to respect others’ privacy and your own privacy.”

Officer Schubert explained to the students that the police department can make arrests for illegal behavior like harassing or threatening e-mail.

“We have to control ourselves and respect the Internet,” he said. “We don’t need anymore of our young students getting in trouble. We work very hard to protect you. Newtown is a very safe community. But you can’t let your guard down.”

Students were encouraged to begin looking at their behavior online and see if anything needed to be changed and were reminded to be safe and be smart when using the Internet.

“Look at what you are doing from now on,” Officer Schubert said. “The goal is to learn from our mistakes and correct what we are doing wrong.”

A Microsoft game is also used by the fifth grade students to review the one-hour lesson Officer Schubert gave to Newtown students.

Detective Robert Tvardzik and Youth Officer Dana Schubert received specialized training on the topic October 3 at the state police forensics laboratory in Meriden. The program is part of the Connecticut Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.