KEEPING OUR YOUTH SAFE ON THE INTERNET

Just a few years ago keeping our youth safe meant teaching them to stay away from strangers when walking to and from school. Today, that is woefully inadequate.  We need to worry about their safety when they are using the Internet. The dangers and the vulnerability of our youth when they are on line are subtle. The stakes are high. Do you know everything you need to in order to teach youth how to stay safe from predators online?

The purpose of this class is to teach parents and youth intervention professionals the most current best practices of Internet safety.  By attending this training, you will learn about the strategies of sexual predators, how to help kids deal with cyber bullying and also about various strategies for monitoring computer activities. This includes learning more about filtering software and how to implement it in the home, schools, and out of school time program.

The program includes lecture and discussion time, as well as real time online activities.

Course Objectives:

• Learn statistics on Internet crimes relating to children.
• Understand the warning signs that there may be problems with a youth’s use of the Internet.
• Learn about acceptable use agreements for families.
• Know appropriate responses for kids while on the Internet.
• Learn about chat rooms, newsgroups and profiles or home pages, including visiting examples of these various types of sites to better understand their assets and potential dangers.
• Engage in a discussion of blogging, email, chat, and instant messaging.
• See a demonstration of filtering software and monitoring software.
• Learn how to find out where a computer has been.
• Watch a demonstration of chat nanny software capabilities.
• Get resources to learn more about Internet safety.

About the Speaker:

Rick Anderson is a 25 year veteran of the St. Paul Police Department.  Before retiring from the Department, he was the Commander of the Minnesota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC), based within the St. Paul Police Department.  Funded by the Department of Justice, the ICAC Task Force is a multi-jurisdictional national program that investigates crimes against children.  It supports investigations in Minnesota and throughout the United States involving the possession/distribution of child pornography and the exploitation of children via the Internet.

Rick Anderson has attended various trainings at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).  He continues his service to the ICAC mission through Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton Wisconsin where he serves as the training coordinator for the ICAC Undercover Course. He has also conducted numerous presentations in Minnesota, North and South Dakota on Internet safety. These presentations have targeted junior and senior high school students, parents, church groups, social workers and law enforcement personnel.

Training Logistics: