South Harrison would like to thank the Harrison County Sheriff's Department and the United States Secret Service Louisville Field Office for hosting and leading several sessions over the last week on how to keep our students safe online.
Students in grades 6-10 across the district attended an hour-long session focusing on some key components of keeping themselves safe when online. These included:
- The importance of having a trusted adult in their lives - someone who will instruct them with regard to appropriate technology usage and someone they can go to when they need help or have questions.
- The importance of having a peer group who will encourage and challenge them to do the right thing both online and offline.
- The importance of remembering to keep their private information private when online.
- The importance of understanding that a follower does not equal a friend.
- The importance of thinking before they post or send anything because once they hit send, they lose control over what has been sent out.
- The importance of trusting their common sense when they are online. If something doesn't feel right, then it probably isn't.
- The importance of not engaging other who are acting suspiciously online but rather reporting them.
- The importance of understanding that if they make a mistake and make a poor choice, it is important to speak to those who can help them.
In addition to the student presentations, South Harrison hosted two evening sessions for adults. During these sessions, many of the components shared with the students were reviewed, as well as emphasizing what parents/guardians can do to help keep their kids safe.
Some great resources were shared during the evening presentation. Adults wishing to know more should check out the resources located on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's website (click here). Finally, several important contact numbers were shared for anyone needing to report or disclose anything related to this topic. These included:
- 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) = to report missing or exploited children
- The CyberTipline = to report online child sexual exploitation
- 502-582-5171 = The U.S. Secret Service Louisville Field Office
South Harrison would once again like to thank everyone who attended these sessions. We hope that everyone left with a bit more knowledge about the things that we can do to keep our students (and ourselves) safe online.