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Making cyberspace safer.


Cyberspace can be dangerous for kids. Take 14-year-old Kelligh Prince who was solicited via an instant message from a sexual predator The term sexual predator is used pejoratively to describe a person seen as obtaining or trying to obtain sexual contact with another person in a metaphorically predatory manner. . Prince relied on instinct and later blocked the stranger's e-mail address See Internet address.

e-mail address - electronic mail address
.

Both online sexual predation predation

Form of food getting in which one animal, the predator, eats an animal of another species, the prey, immediately after killing it or, in some cases, while it is still alive. Most predators are generalists; they eat a variety of prey species.
 and cyber-bullying are on the rise. Approximately 20 percent of kids under 18 received a sexual solicitation over the Internet in 2004, according to the U.S. Dept. of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (or OJJDP) is an office of the United States Department of Justice and a component of the Office of Justice Programs. . One in four girls and one in six boys have admitted to meeting Internet strangers in person, with 60 percent of teen girls admitting to cyber-sex, says Parry ARab, executive director of wiredsafety.org.

Recent polls indicate that 75 percent to 80 percent of 12 to 14 year olds have been cyber-bullied. Cyber-bullying begins at age nine and morphs into sexual harassment sexual harassment, in law, verbal or physical behavior of a sexual nature, aimed at a particular person or group of people, especially in the workplace or in academic or other institutional settings, that is actionable, as in tort or under equal-opportunity statutes.  by high school, says Aftab.

Schools need to tackle the problem to keep kids safe and head off potential lawsuits. "Many schools are unprepared for cyber-bullying," says Carolyn Walpole, director of education for i-SAFE.org.

And it opens a new field for lawsuits, says Walpole. Parents, students and civil liberty organizations argue that districts that punish kids for criticizing teachers or students in cyberspace violate kids' freedom of speech. They also maintain schools lack authority over off campus online activities.

The lynchpin lynch·pin  
n.
Variant of linchpin.


lynchpin
Noun

same as linchpin

Noun 1.
 of a good cyber safety plan is the acceptable use policy. "The policy should expressly indicate the district's jurisdiction over items outside of school [such as laptops and cell phones] and the rationale for the action," says Aftab.

"The acceptable use policy should spell out guidelines and consequences of using school equipment--including networks--to bully," adds Walpole.
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Article Details
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Author:Fratt, Lisa
Publication:District Administration
Article Type:Brief article
Geographic Code:1USA
Date:Mar 1, 2006
Words:273
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