Online Safety Program Set for Hub Schools

By JESSE NOYES

Mayor Thomas M. Menino is expected to announce an expansion of an Internet safety campaign for youth in Boston public schools today, adding a program for local high schoolers to mentor kids about keeping safe online and a brand-new Web site.

“Cyber Safety Mentors,” a new program being funded by Microsoft Corp., will train 10 high school students to teach other students about Internet safety. The students will get taught by nonprofit I- Safe on topics such as cyber-bullying, surfing social networking sites and avoiding online predators.

The students are also expected to create a new product to be used by parents, teachers and classrooms on staying safe on the Web. A new site, www.techboston.org/internetsafety, with educational materials is also going live tomorrow.

Online safety has become a major issue for students as young people spend large amounts of time on sites like MySpace and Facebook.

Students now have to learn how to deal with phenomena like cyber bullying, where someone sends taunting e-mails to a fellow student from an anonymous address, said Felicia Vargas, director of TechBoston, a division of the technology department of Boston public schools.

The new mentorship program is designed to give clout to Internet safety courses by having them taught by fellow students while giving those mentors a chance to use their computer skills, said Ted MacLean, Microsoft general manager for the Northeast. “We hope it provides the first technology jobs for many Boston high school students,” he said.

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