Parents urged to protect kids from Internet predators

Are you a woman who wants to earn more money by using technology?

If either topic interests you, a seminar on cyber awareness will be held on March 9 as part of the International Women’s Conference.

Bermuda resident Patricia Blackman, who works for Gateway Systems, will speak at the event.

Strangers

She is a former training manager for CompUSA and was a trainer for the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.

She said: “The first seminar will be entitled Stranger Danger: Is Your Child Meeting Strangers Online.

“The second will be titled Work Harder On Yourself Than On Your Job.

“It is geared towards women learning more to earn more — how tech-nology can be a vehicle to earn more.”

‘Since this is the Inter-national Women’s Conference, it is a great opportunity to enlighten women about the dangers lurking on the Internet concerning their children. My background as a software instructor requires me to research the Internet constantly to bring up-to-date material to my students. In the course of my research I have seen sites that appeared innocent but were very deceptive and most were sites kids might be using for a class project.” Ms Blackman said she will focus on awareness rather than safety in the seminars.

She added: “There are several companies that will sell you a product to keep your child ‘safe’ but  most parents lack the kind of awareness needed to address this situation.

“There is a huge pink elephant in the room and parents need to see it for themselves.”