The following message is from the Office of the Attorney General, Bill McCollum.
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Bill McCollum
Attorney General
News Release
May 8, 2008
McCollum: CyberSafety Message Reaches More Than 100,000 Students
~ CyberSafety program now in more than 220 schools throughout the state ~
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that
his CyberSafety Program has exceeded the 100,000 student mark, an important
milestone as the end of the school year rapidly approaches. The program
combines real-life stories and examples to help middle and high school
students identify ways they could be victimized by predators online and to
encourage safe internet use. Members of the Attorney General’s Office have
been bringing the 50-minute cybersafety program students statewide since
the beginning of the school year.
“Internet child predators are aggressive and very tech-savvy.
Education will be the key to winning this fight to keep our children safe
online,” said Attorney General McCollum. “Every child we have reached with
this message now has the tools to protect him or herself on the internet.”
Principals throughout the state have recognized the program as
innovative and captivating and have provided positive feedback about the
program’s impact on students and faculty alike. Excerpts from principals’
feedback is available online at:
http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/MRAY-7EERCB/$file/PrincipalsResponse.pdf
Earlier this year, Attorney General Bill McCollum and Education
Commissioner Eric J. Smith announced a statewide CyberSafety challenge to
school principals to sign their schools up for CyberSafety Education
presentations. The challenge is part of Attorney General McCollum’s goal to
reach every middle and high school in the state with this critical safety
message. Taylor County School District has already been recognized as the
first district in Florida to sign up all of its middle and high school
students to receive the Attorney General’s CyberSafety Education
presentation. A second winner, the district that signs up the largest total
number of schools for presentations, will be announced at the end of the
school year. The winning districts will receive special CyberSafety
presentations hosted in person by Attorney General McCollum and
Commissioner Smith this fall.
Principals can visit http://www.safeflorida.net/safeschools to log
onto a site developed specifically to register schools for the Attorney
General’s CyberSafety presentation. The presentations have 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 America’s Most
Wanted.
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Evelyn out.
