Correy Harris, program coordinator with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Lawrence, talks to Louisburg Middle School students about Internet safety and cyberbullying. (Photo by Kristen Waggener / kwaggener@miconews.com)
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It’s about keeping yourself safe
Speaker warns middle school students about dangers of posting personal information online
Kristen Waggener, kwaggener@miconews.com
It only took 20 minutes. Twenty minutes for an Internet predator to track down Teresa’s last name, address, school and phone number after meeting her online.
“It’s this scary,” Correy Harris, program manager of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Lawrence, told about 400 Louisburg Middle School students. “There’s somebody out there that can do that.”
Harris visited LMS on Friday as part of a free Netsmartz presentation, showing the pre-teens how dangerous the Internet can be if they don’t protect themselves.
About half the group admitted to having MySpace and Facebook pages — an easy tool for predators to use to get information about them, Harris said.
“You’ve got to be careful and use the right kind of judgment,” he told the students. “If it feels like it’s not going to be the right thing to do, then it’s probably the wrong thing to do.”
Using videos, public service announcements and visual examples, Harris not only showed how easy it is for one person to get in trouble on the Internet because of predators, but he also showed the damaging effects cyberbullying has.
“It’s a big issue right now,” he said. “You never know how it affects somebody.”
LMS Principal Brian Biermann said after hearing about the presentation through an e-mail, he decided to bring the group to Louisburg to better inform his students.
And, based on some of their reactions after the presentation, it worked.
“I’m going to go home and delete my MySpace,” said eighth-grader Katie Dixon.
“I thought it was really eye-opening,” she said.
Eighth-grader Konnor Cook, who has both MySpace and Facebook pages, said after hearing the information presented, he planned to change what he put up on the Internet.
“It’s just so easy to locate yourself with two things,” Konnor said. “You could type in my phone number, and I’d be located just like that.”
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It only took 20 minutes. Twenty minutes for an Internet predator to track down Teresa’s last name, address, school and phone number after meeting her online.
“It’s this scary,” Correy Harris, program manager of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Lawrence, told about 400 Louisburg Middle School students. “There’s somebody out there that can do that.”
Harris visited LMS on Friday as part of a free Netsmartz presentation, showing the pre-teens how dangerous the Internet can be if they don’t protect themselves.
About half the group admitted to having MySpace and Facebook pages — an easy tool for predators to use to get information about them, Harris said.
“You’ve got to be careful and use the right kind of judgment,” he told the students. “If it feels like it’s not going to be the right thing to do, then it’s probably the wrong thing to do.”
Using videos, public service announcements and visual examples, Harris not only showed how easy it is for one person to get in trouble on the Internet because of predators, but he also showed the damaging effects cyberbullying has.
“It’s a big issue right now,” he said. “You never know how it affects somebody.”
LMS Principal Brian Biermann said after hearing about the presentation through an e-mail, he decided to bring the group to Louisburg to better inform his students.
And, based on some of their reactions after the presentation, it worked.
“I’m going to go home and delete my MySpace,” said eighth-grader Katie Dixon.
“I thought it was really eye-opening,” she said.
Eighth-grader Konnor Cook, who has both MySpace and Facebook pages, said after hearing the information presented, he planned to change what he put up on the Internet.
“It’s just so easy to locate yourself with two things,” Konnor said. “You could type in my phone number, and I’d be located just like that.”