Way to go VA

Gene Fishel is a Virginia assistant attorney general who recently gave a presentation to a High School about the dangers of disclosing personal information over the Internet and agreeing to meet “Web acquaintances” in person.

While Texas and Illinois are among other states that have passed Internet safety education laws, Virginia is the only state that mandates public schools to offer Internet safety classes for all grade levels.

Judi Westberg Warren, president of Web Wise Kids, a nonprofit group funded by the federal government and corporations such as Verizon and Symantec to provide schools with no-cost Internet safety lessons for 11-to 16-year olds, said that other states are considering similar legislation. She admits, however, that “such efforts are overdue as the Internet’s technological advances have enabled criminals to reach more victims.”

According to a 2006 study by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,

13 percent of Internet users ages 10 to 17 had received unwanted sexual solicitations. Four percent of those youths reported being asked for nude or sexually explicit photographs of themselves.

More important than just mandating these Internet safety classes, Virginia has also created initiatives that help schools educate parents on internet safety, such as encouraging families to use filtering software as well as putting their computers in parts of the house where they can be easily seen.

Director of the Virginia Department of Education’s office of education technology, Tammy McGraw, has worked with schools to integrate Internet safety lessons into existing coursework.

MySpace, that social networking abyss,

agreed with 49 states to create a task force to devise ways to protect youngsters from online predators and bullies. Texas opted out because of concern that the program lacks a way to verify users’ ages.

I'm pretty surprised that such programs and initiatives have not already been implemented in schools nationwide. I'm even more surprised by Texas' choice to opt out of the agreement with MySpace to create a task force to instill Internet safety.

What I've come to learn in my old age, is that common sense isn't very common.

Yes, it will be difficult and awkward to teach students about the dangers of Internet safety, just as like it will be difficult and awkward to teach students about the technicalities and dangers of sex -- because they'll think they know everything about it. They are, of course, wrong.

And as our society is relying more and more on the Internet, and all the wonderful things it has to offer, we must also highlight all of the dirty things that lie waiting in its dark corners.

But yeah, way to go Virginia!

Peace.