Chance Hoover
Channel Marketing Manager at Intel Security
CompTIA ChannelChanger
One afternoon following an executive meeting, a group of coworkers and partners attended a local elementary school to talk to children about online safety. This was not the first time any of us had delivered these sessions; we all have extensive experience teaching children all over the country. This was, however, the day we realized how important our message is, and that there is a problem with today’s online use that isn’t going to get any better anytime soon.
Our sessions are age-appropriate for K-12, with parent versions as well, covering cyber security topics including passwords, malware and phishing. We also discuss cyber ethics topics such as bullying and online theft, and most notably for this discussion, cyber safety. The latter is perhaps the most important of the three, as it includes discussions about what is considered personal information and why giving too much out can unknowingly have adverse effects. Following our presentation on stranger danger and how people lie about certain details in their profiles to make themselves seem safe, there was a question from the crowd.
As usual, the ‘question’ from a student was actually a story that just HAD to be told. This one was different from most though, as it was relevant to the topic and gave us a real world example. The young lady told us a story about how she had met a supposed friend from a nearby school on a game website, and had given him seemingly harmless information about her school and love for soccer. No harm in that right? Wrong. A short time later this individual showed up at the young lady’s soccer practice. Had it not been for observant parents and a call to the police, there is no telling what could have happened.
We tell stories like this to bring awareness to our young audiences. Truth is, these are not stories, but real-life situations that could happen to anyone. Our youth and many adults do not know that with a little bit of personal information and the endless amount of public information on the internet, we are all at risk. Occasions like this, knowing that our message helps save children from potential virtual or physical harm is why we do it. By the way, many times the children don’t realize that THEY are culprits of this also—most social media platforms require participants be at least 13 years old to sign up, and the majority of the pre-teens we teach are already active on them.
The examples go on and on: in one school we helped identify an individual that had friended the majority of kids in one grade level, yet not one child there had ever met him or could tell us who he was or how they know him. This isn’t just a kid problem either—adults don’t know many of the things their children do online, much less the threats that can come with those actions or how to protect them from these dangers. Don’t get me wrong, the internet is a wealth of knowledge and power like our world has never had before, but it can be harmful all the same.
As a millennial, I grew up as technology did. When a new threat was discovered, I was educated on how to avoid it. Today’s youth are getting connected devices before they can talk, much less know what kind of dangers are present, while bad guys become better and better at their deception. As a father, this is the reason my daughter will not be the first to have that cool new device or her own social media account. She will be the first to know about the dangers of the internet and how to stay safe. She will also know how to have fun and be entertained without technology, but that is a topic for a different blog post.
My volunteer work related to online safety started off as a desire to do a good deed, but after just one session, I was hooked. I encourage everyone to find volunteer opportunities that have a personal meaning to you. That is what I enjoy doing every chance I get. If teaching kids about online safety is something you would like help with, please reach out to me. These sessions can help improve your public speaking as well (just try holding the attention of second graders for an hour). Children are one of the toughest audiences you will ever present to, but more than that, they are likely the most important.
