U.S. Rep. David McKinley brought program to Wood County school
By MICHAEL ERB
PARKERSBURG, W.Va. — West Virginia parents know this concern: Who and how best to advise their children about personal safety on social media?
How about Google?
Tuesday, West Virginia students at VanDevender Middle School Tuesday heard a Google Internet safety program with representatives urging students to take precautions when using social media.
Google presenter Jamie Hill led students through a 45-minute multimedia presentation on how to stay safe while online. The Google Online Safety Roadshow concentrates on five key areas: Think about what you post, protect your online information, know and use your settings, avoid online scams and be positive. Lessons ranged from showing how pictures and posts shared online can be made public without the poster’s consent to creating a secure password for social media sites and apps.
“We know this is a period of time when they are using technology and social media,” Hill said. “We want to help them build best practises.”
Rep. David McKinley brought the program to Wood County and spoke briefly to the students about why it is important for them to protect their online data and identities. McKinley said in his lifetime computers and information have evolved significantly and at a rapid pace.
“Things have changed so much over the years,” he said. “There is more computing capability in your parent’s automobile than what we used (in 1969) to put a man on the moon.”
McKinley said his own cell phone has been hacked on three different occasions by foreign governments trying to access his information.
“Every time you get on Facebook or Twitter, you are sending information out into the world,” he said. “You don’t want to lose your identity.”
Principal Darlene Murphy said the school was thrilled to have the Google program and grateful McKinley brought the program to Vandy.
“This is a really important age for our students to learn about Internet safety,” she said. “Presenting it in a fun, multimedia format helps the students not only learn but keeps them engaged.”
“We try to make it really interactive,” Hill said. “This is both serious and important, but we also want it to be fun and engaging.”
Hill said the hope is students will take the information presented Tuesday home to parents and loved ones. “It needs to be a continuing conversation,” she said.
For more information on the program or for additional resources, visit www.google.com/safetycenter/.
