Corporate Information
Girls Learn About Internet Safety
From the Danville Commercial News, 18 February 2005
Article by Dana Schaumburg
North Ridge Middle School students Tierra Wilson, left, and Jalesa White learn about Internet safety with the Young Women Aware group. (Photo by Matt Huber) |
DANVILLE — Young Women Aware members at two middle schools are thinking more about the time they spend on the
World Wide Web. The young women at North Ridge and South View middle schools got a lesson in Internet safety this week. “I learned about that you should stay in your proper area,” North Ridge sixth-grade student Nakitta Jackson said. The 11-year-old said she now knows she should go only to Web sites that are appropriate for her age and that she should never give out personal information. The Internet safety program was put on by Julia Sullivan, a systems analyst for NexLAN in Danville. Sullivan, who also is a correspondent for the Commercial-News, told the girls that when they talk to someone on the Internet — even a friend of a friend — that person is a stranger. “Even if you’ve talked to them for a couple of months, they’re still a stranger,” she said. |
Jackson said she likes to go on the Disney Channel’s Web site. “I never go on chat rooms,” she said, adding it is just safer to stay away from them.
Sullivan gave the girls an Internet safety quiz to rank their current Web behavior. All scored well. The girls asked questions to find out more about the Internet.
Sullivan said spyware can attach to a computer, sometimes when people illegally download songs on the Internet. “You get it by saying yes to something you shouldn’t have,” she said. The spyware allows a stranger to monitor passwords and even see credit card numbers when making purchases online.
“Don’t tell anyone your passwords ever,” Sullivan added.
YWA coordinator Stephanie Finney said students are online a lot doing school work and corresponding. “Almost every kid is online now,” she said. “That’s an interesting topic.”
That is why Finney thought it was important for the YWA members to talk about Internet safety. “They need to be careful.” She wants the students to know how to protect themselves and their families.
The girls also split into two teams and played a game with Internet trivia questions. They answered questions about passwords, screen names, instant messaging, computer health, smileys and more.
North Ridge eighth-grade student Calasha Warden said she learned how to use the Internet better. “I’ve been learning a lot about not getting on to be mean,” the 13-year-old said. “You can’t just put anything on the Internet.”