HARRISBURG – The state’s leading educational organizations joined the Attorney General’s Office to officially kick-off “Operation Summer Surf.”
Attorney General Tom Corbett was joined, at a news conference at Central Dauphin East Middle School, by representatives from the Pennsylvania Parent Teacher Association, the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the Pennsylvania School Boards Association and the Pennsylvania Association of Elementary and Secondary School Principals, to remind parents across Pennsylvania to be vigilant this summer and to make sure they know what their kids are doing online.
Operation Summer Surf is an expansion on the Attorney General’s program, “Operation Safe Surf,” which has reached nearly 140,000 children and adults from across Pennsylvania since its creation in October 2006.
“Our children are doing more and accessing more information online than we ever could have imagined,” Corbett said. “With the popularity of social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook and entertainment sites like YouTube, kids can access absolutely anything with the click of a mouse.”
Operation Safe Surf was created to help educate kids, parents and schools about the importance of being safe online. The outgrowth of the program, being kicked off today reminds parents, teachers and students that the dialog on Internet safety should continue outside of school during the summer months.
“During the school year kids are continually reminded about Internet safety and there are safeguards in place to monitor what they are doing online while at school,” Corbett said. “But, in one month, kids will not be sitting in classrooms using computers, they will be surfing the Internet in their homes.”
“As the summer months approach, it is especially important that we are all made aware of the increased likelihood that children may be exposed to unsafe situations,” Pennsylvania State Education Association Treasurer Jerry Oleksiak said. “Statistically speaking, children are safer in America’s schools than anywhere else, according to the US Census Bureau. With school out for summer, a renewed emphasis on safety on the part of all of us who care about children is of particular importance.”
Corbett said that young people today have grown up with the Internet and have never known a world without it, making “surfing” a part of their life that they often take for granted. That is why Operation Summer Surf emphasizes that the same rules of Internet safety apply not just to September through June, but throughout the summer months as well.
“Children truly are online experts, but so are predators. Stranger danger has met the information superhighway and it’s more dangerous and more deadly than anyone could have imagined,” Corbett said.
“Parents really need to be extra vigilant in the summer time when talking with their children about internet safety,” President of the Pennsylvania Parent Teacher Association, Caroline Allen said. “There are so many more opportunities for kids to bow to peer pressure and make inappropriate choices when using online chat rooms. The consequences can be dire and no parent wants their child in danger at any time.”
Corbett said that parents can use filtering and tracking software, which is available at little or no cost, to help make a difference in monitoring their kids’ online activities when they can’t physically be there.
Corbett encouraged parents to discuss Internet safety with their children, including the danger of meeting strangers who approach them online.
“Communication is vital,” Corbett said. “Talk to your kids. Ask them to show you what they are doing online. Set online ground rules for the summer and make sure your kids are being responsible on the Internet.”
All of the original Operation Safe Surf materials are provided free-of-charge. Schools and community groups that are interested in materials, speakers or presentations can contact the Attorney General’s Education and Outreach Office at 1-800-525-7642 or via email at education@attorneygeneral.gov.
Corbett urged anyone who has information about Internet predators to contact the Child Predator Unit, toll-free, at 1-800-385-1044.
