Saying that “stranger danger” now is lurking on the Internet, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan launched a campaign Monday to help protect children from online predators.
Speaking at a news conference at Drummond Elementary School in Chicago, Madigan offered support for the Internet Safety Education Act, state legislation that urges schools to provide annual Internet safety education to students. She also announced that her office plans to distribute education videos to schools to help promote Internet safety.
“If you are like me, you grew up hearing about ‘stranger danger,’ the creepy guy in the park who watches kids,” Madigan said. “These days stranger danger is already in our homes
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Now, their playground is the Internet.”
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The state bill would urge, but not require, schools to provide two hours of Internet safety education each year. That curriculum should focus on how to avoid online solicitations by sexual predators, how to deal with cyber-bullying, and the safe use of chat rooms and social networks.
Many school districts already offer students instruction in Internet safety, including some schools in the Chicago system.
Madigan talked about a recent study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project that showed that 61 percent of teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 have a profile on a social networking site, such as MySpace.com.
About 13 percent of teenagers online said they have received a sexual solicitation on the Internet. About 40 percent said they will reply to a message online from a stranger. And 40 percent of high school students admit hiding online activity from their parents.
“While kids are very computer-savvy, unfortunately many of us who are parents and teachers are, sometimes, not as prepared as we should be to warn children about Internet threats,” Madigan said.
Linda Kappertz, who has two 5th graders at Drummond, said she supports the bill. All three of her children have pages on MySpace, something she grudgingly allowed. Kappertz keeps the family computer in the dining room so she can monitor her children. She regularly lectures them on how to protect themselves and does not allow them to post their real names online. A few months ago, she forced the family to watch a TV news show about the dangers of online predators.
“My kids are so much more advanced on the computer than I am, I worry that there are things I might be missing, warnings that I should be giving them,” she said. “I love the idea of a class at school that would talk about these issues. I think these kids need to hear this constantly, from parents and teachers.”
Kappertz’s daughter, Destiny Rodriguez, said she goes on her MySpace page about twice a week. “I don’t think anything bad could happen to me because my mom makes sure I don’t talk to people I don’t know,” said Rodriguez. “If someone I don’t know messaged me, I’d go tell my mom.”