Opelika Lifestyle
Alabama Attorney Generals Office to Present Lost in Cyberspace Workshop for Parents
By Kate Larkin
Involving parents in the educational process of
their children is imperative and the Opelika City
Schools system offers numerous ways for parents to be a part of their child’s life during and after the
regular school day.
One such opportunity will be the free Lost in Cyberspace Workshop – Protecting Your
Children Online to be held this Tuesday, April 17th from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Opelika
Middle School, located at 1206 Denson Drive. A representative from the Alabama Attorney General’s
office will present a parent-only seminar on keeping our children safe on the Internet.
In today’s world, children are constantly in touch with the Internet and though many
uses of the World Wide Web are very educational and provide valuable learning opportunities and
information that has never before been so easily attainable,
there are also tremendous dangers lurking in cyberspace.
You’ve seen the Dateline Predator series where seemingly fine,
upstanding men – teachers, preachers, and other professionals
– chat with young girls and boys for an extended period of time.
Since you can be anybody you want to be in cyberspace, often
the child pretends to be older, or at least more mature. The man
(or woman) – sometimes pretending to be older, sometimes not
- shows a tremendous interest in the child, luring them in with
all the right words to make the child feel special. One thing
leads to another and finally a time is set for the man (in most
cases) to meet the child alone. How fl attering
to a child to think a grown man is interested in him or her. How
perverted of the man to follow through with this scheme – but it
happens more often than you would even want to imagine.
Chatrooms like MySpace and Facebook, IM (Instant
Messaging), and just ordinary emails can all create major problems
for children – and their parents – if proper precautions are not taken.
more-more-more
At this workshop, the presenter will start at the beginning
– explaining what a chatroom is, how it is used, the advantages and
disadvantages of using chatrooms and other Internet sites. He will
discuss what children are talking about online and what kinds of sites
they most frequently visit. He will explain how personal information
is obtained and used against you and how to protect yourself and
your family from Internet thugs.
He’ll also talk frankly about how predators use the Internet and what they are doing and
saying to your children and their sneaky tactics to win your child over. Pornography, including child
pornography, continues to be a growing problem online with increasing ease to gain access and with
savvy predators hiding their criminal photography in your computer.
If you think none of this can happen to you or your family, then you most definitely need to make
plans to attend this workshop.
After you have been informed of the dangers, you will be given answers and offered
resources to protect your children and your family in cyberspace. This is one seminar you simply
cannot afford to miss.
Presented by the Alabama Bureau of Investigation (ABI), Troy University, the Alabama
Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention, the Alabama PTA, the Alabama Department of
Children’s Affairs, the State of Alabama Attorney General, and the Opelika City Schools system, this
FREE workshop is open to adults only. No children will be admitted to the event.
For more information, contact Opelika City Schools Parenting Coordinator Lola White at
334.741.5606.
Kate Larkin is the Public Relations Coordinator for Opelika City Schools.
|
|
