Scott Swan/Eyewitness News
All Indiana schools are equipped with a new tool to protect students who go online. Educators hope students get the message of internet safety to help guard against predators. The message is coming in the form of a book and a film.
Adults have watched the NBC program, "To Catch a Predator," and we've seen the suspects - including some from Indiana - busted.
Some 71 percent of teens who use the internet are contacted by strangers, and 14 percent of those teens end up meeting those strangers. Educators and parents want kids to get the message that it's potentially very dangerous to meet up in real life with virtual "friends."
A new book, FauxPaw, uses a "technocat" to help young people understand the rules they need to follow. Superintendent of Public Instruction Suellen Reed read the book to children at Riverside Elementary School Thursday.
Faux Paw the Techno Cat is a book developed by an internet safety group, Ikeepsafe.org, and is now in every public elementary school and library in Indiana.
A companion film helps children understand that even cats can run into trouble if they chat online with strangers. "We know there are predators on the internet and it's up to us to keep our children safe," said Dr. Reed.
Educators believe the book and film, coupled with adult supervision, will help keep children safe online.
"If an adult is not there helping them to guide them, they can find things that are hurtful and harmful, and children do not understand malicious intent," said Marsali Hancock, Indiana Educational Technology Council.
The book is designed to teach children three things:
Never give out personal information to strangers online.
Stay away from meeting internet strangers.
Tell parents about anything on the Internet that makes them feel uncomfortable.
