Internet Safety for Children Rural Telephone and Nex-Tech feel it is critical to inform our community leaders, parents, students and teachers about the steps we can take to protect our youth while online. The Internet is a wonderfully fun and educational tool, but it can also lead our children to sites and people we wish they weren’t exposed to. As a service to the communities we serve, Rural Telephone and Nex-Tech is offering a free seminar, Masks of Deception: Protecting Your “Spaces” from Online Predators. We will present this seminar free of charge to teachers, parents, students or organizations at a time that is convenient for you. Together we can help to assure our children are safer while online.    Child Online Safety Seminar for Adults   This seminar is designed for adults and is ideal for parents, organizations or groups. Masks of Deception: Protecting Your “Spaces” Against Online Predators is a program designed to educate adults in our communities about the popular websites our youth are visiting and the vital information we must know to help keep our children safe. Through this free program, you’ll learn how easy it is for predators to find personal information about our youth on the web. We’ll also share the terrifying story of a local woman whose life was torn apart by a stocker she met online.   Did you know: 1 in 5 children are sexually solicited online by pedophiles. 1 in 33 children are aggressively pursued sexually online. 77% of youth are contacted by age 14. 22% are contacted between ages 10-13. Over 20,000 child pornography images are uploaded weekly. If you are interested in scheduling this free program, please contact Jacque or Tonya toll free at 877-567-7872.   Child Safety Seminar for Schools   The child safety seminar Masks of Deception: Protecting Your “Spaces” Against Online Predators is designed to make junior high and high school students aware of the steps they must take to be safer online. In this highly-popular program, students take on the role of the predator as they analyze a typical student’s “space” on the web.  This 45-minute program focuses on online websites like My Space.com and Tagged.com in order to show how vulnerable students are to online predators.  On these “spaces,” children (and adults) set up their own profiles, type journal (diary) entries, and upload pictures of themselves and friends. Through screen shots of a 15-year-old girl’s profile, we show how quickly (20 minutes) an online predator can find his or her prey.   Topics include:   How predators access information What information is safe to post online Taking responsibility for your online safety How to report a problem   If you are interested in scheduling this free program for schools, please contact Jacque or Tonya toll free at 877-567-7872. Click HERE for tips on keeping your child safer on the Internet