The Montana Attorney General's office follows the national lead with a web site of their own on cybersafety resources and information for parents, educators and teens.
17-minute parent presentation on cybersafety developed by IKeepSafe and Comcast with Bob McDonnell, Attorney General, Commonwealth of Virginia. The video is available free for all Comcast Digital Cable customers via Comcast's signature On Demand service. It explores the risks associated with the Internet, and teaches parents and guardians how to become involved and take action to protect their children from these risks. It can also be downloaded online.
Illustrating how important this threat has become, Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) and Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo.) proposed a federal law that would criminalize acts of so-called cyberbullying. In this blog, two national security advisors propose to take it further so that on-line masquerading is also defined and considered. They would also like to see H.R. 2163 increase the penalities when a cyberbully uses a false identity or steals another person's identity when bullying a victim.
Florida's Cybersafety Initiative consists of SafeSurf Web sites for <a href = "http://www.safeflorida.net/safesurfkids"><b>Kids</a>, <a href="http://www.safeflorida.net/safesurfteens"><b>Teens</a></b> and <a href= "http://www.safeflorida.net/safesurfadults"><b>Adults</b></a> and a <b>cybersafety school assembly program </b> that specifically targets middle and high school students to educate them about cyberpredators and personal internet safety.
The Michigan Cyber Safety Initiative (Michigan CSI) is an Internet safety education program with customized presentations for kindergarten through eighth-grade students and a community seminar. There are many downloadable handouts for educators and parents, including an online safety contract, social networking discussion questions (parent dialogue with child), templates, slides and sample presentations.
The Pennyslvania Center for Safe Schools has released a new Internet safety video: <b>Protecting Kids Online</b>. This 22-minute Internet safety resource speaks to parents and caregivers on topics from understanding the serious repercussion of cyber-bullying to learning how to safeguard our children from online predators.
This site is brought to you by Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath and the Montana Safe Schools Center at The University of Montana.
New Hampshire's effort to educate the public on the dangers of the Internet--and helping parents Connect with Their Kids! about Internet safety.
The California Department of Education (CDE) and the Office of the Attorney General (AG) co-administer the School/Law Enforcement Partnership program. The Partnership has funded the Kern County Office of Education for a five-year period to administer the statewide School Safety and Violence Prevention Training Grant. The grant provides for safe schools planning, bullying prevention, and crisis response training. This training program does not currently include prevention of bullying that occurs via electronic communication devices. <b>Need for the bill </b> : A poll commissioned in 2006 by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, showed that one in three teens and one in six preteens have been victims of cyber bullying and that more than 2 million of those victims told no one about the attacks.
Kentucky's Office of the Attorney General's home page for cybersafety and cyberbullying awareness and information.
California State-approved technology plans that meet certain criteria must be in place before federal funding for technology may be secured by a school district. Education Code Section 51871.5 also requires the addition of a component to educate students and teachers on cyberbullying and Internet Safety, among other topics.
Lawmakers in California are considering a bill to punish bullies that harass fellow student via digital means, such as test messages or social networks like MySpace.
AB 307 charges districts to “educate pupils and teachers on the appropriate and ethical use of information technology in the classroom, Internet safety, avoiding plagiarism, the concept, purpose, and significance of a copyright so that pupils can distinguish between lawful and unlawful online downloading, and the implications of illegal peer-to-peer network file sharing.” <br><br>This bill shows up as additional items in the planning criteria found in the EETT grant applicationCalifornia Education Code Section 51871.5, -- legislation, monitoring student internet use, ethical use of educational technology in the classroom, information literacy, aspects of information literacy/Internet safety, cyber-bullying, research studies and reports.
Schoolyard bullies are a long-standing problem but now, in the age of the Internet, they are increasingly using electronic devices to torment their victims. Because cyberbullying has become so prevalent, several states, including New York, have proposed legislation to control cyberbullying.
School bullies who use the Internet or text messaging to harass fellow students could be kicked out of school under a bill being considered by the California Legislature [AB 86]
Existing law, the Interagency School Safety Demonstration Act of 1985, states that the intent of the Legislature in enacting its provisions is to encourage school districts, county offices of education, law enforcement agencies, and agencies serving youth to develop and implement interagency strategies, in-service training programs, and activities that will, among other things, reduce school crime and violence, including bullying. Existing law establishes the <b>School/Law Enforcement Partnership </b>and charges it with undertaking several efforts intended to reduce school crime, as specified,including bullying. <br><br>This bill would specify that bullying, as used in these provisions,means one or more acts by a pupil or a group of pupils directed against another pupil that constitutes sexual harassment, hate violence, or severe or pervasive intentional harassment, threats, or intimidation that is disruptive, causes disorder, and invades the rights of others by creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment, and includes\nacts that are committed personally or by means of an electronic act, as defined. <br><br>Existing law prohibits the suspension, or recommendation for expulsion, of a pupil from school unless the principal determines that the pupil has committed any of various specified acts, including, but not limited to, hazing, as defined. This bill, in addition, would give school officials grounds to suspend a pupil or recommend a pupil for expulsion for bullying, including, but not limited to, bullying by electronic act. <br><br>
In April 2008, Gov. Steve Beshear signed House Bill 91, often referred to as "The Golden Rule Act." The measure is aimed at protecting Kentucky's students by requiring "bullying" policies in the state's public schools. "This legislation hits home for many children, teens and their parents," said Gov. Beshear. "By prohibiting bullying and harassment among students, The Golden Rule Act will help protect Kentucky's most valuable resource, our children."
A bill passed earlier this year makes it mandatory for Pennsylvania school districts to have a written anti-bullying policy in place beginning next year.
Here's the newest from Sen. Ted Stevens, the man who described the Internet as a series of tubes: It's time for the federal government to ban access to Wikipedia, MySpace, and social networking sites from schools and libraries.
Adolescent Web Awareness Requires Education Act or the AWARE Act - Directs the Attorney General to: (1) make two-year grants to certain educational agencies, nonprofit organizations, and schools to carry out Internet crime awareness and cybercrime prevention programs; (2) grant priority in making such grants to entities that meet specified criteria, including the identification and targeting of children-at-risk of engaging in cybercrimes or becoming crime victims; (3) contract for research studies on Internet crime awareness and prevention; and (4) provide technical assistance and guidance to grant recipients. Authorizes grant recipients to use funds for specified purposes, including identifying, developing, and implementing Internet crime awareness and cybercrime prevention and public awareness programs, providing professional training to teachers and school personnel on cybercrime awareness and education.