Virginia Tries to Ensure Students' Safety in Cyberspace

The state initiative calls for including parents. One chapter in a state resource book covers "What Parents, Grandparents, and Caregivers Need to Know." In Arlington, some Parent-Teacher Association chapters have heard public service announcements on the subject. And on Thursday, parents met at an Alexandria elementary school to talk about Internet safety.

"I tell parents this all the time, and they are horrified, but e-mail is for old people," said Elizabeth Hoover, Alexandria's instructional technology coordinator. "We have to raise our level of awareness for our teachers and community members. We can't move forward without doing that."

Charlie Makela, library services supervisor for Arlington schools, said that people tend to think of Internet safety in terms of online predators, but that "it's much, much more than that." It's about cyber-bullying, copyright infringement, text messaging and social networking.

"I don't think many children understand that if you post a picture or information on a bulletin board, a physical bulletin board, you can take that picture down and it's gone. If I post it on the Internet, it's never gone," Makela said, adding they also don't realize Facebook owns whatever items are put on its site. "We click on the accept-the-terms-of-use agreement, but we really don't know what we're agreeing to."

Makela said that in pilot programs at elementary, middle and high schools, educators found the children were savvy but still had much to learn. The challenge was finding the best way to reach each group.

"A kindergarten student might be told a virus is something that can make you sick, where at middle school and upper levels, we would talk about Trojan horses," Makela said.

Linda Wilkoff, a guidance counselor at Charles Barrett Elementary School, said children were still singing songs about Internet safety weeks after a class there ended.

To make her points to the youngsters, Wilkoff drew age-appropriate analogies. Posting personal information is like a dinosaur footprint that exists forever. Or like toothpaste: Once it's squeezed out of the tube, it can't be put back in.

"One of my students said, 'You know Ms. Wilkoff, this is making me kind of worry,' " she said. "I said, 'That's good.' "