Sheriff to expand Internet program

Bedford County

by Patrick Lynch

BEDFORD -- In a few weeks, Bedford students in grades 4 through 7 will be the first in Virginia to receive instruction at school about safe surfing on the Internet, but Sheriff Mike Brown hopes the program his office created will be in schools statewide next year.

   Brown is trying to arrange to present the "Safe Surfin' Internet Safety Educational Program," aimed at teaching children how to avoid sexual predators, at a meeting of the state's school superintendents in October.  The decision to use the program would then fall to each of the state's 133 school divisions.

   The initial program consists of a video and instructional materials for children, but Brown said his office is still developing the substance of what officers will teach to accompany the video.

   Brown plans to talk further about the program, which is a branch of the federally-funded Operation Blue Ridge Thunder, at a press conference today at Salem Memorial Stadium.

   "This program does not enter the moral or ethical arena," Brown said.  "This is a nuts and bolts program -- the mechanics of how to surf the Internet safely."

   Brown said students will be given tips about what sites to visit and what sites to stay away from, such as chat rooms where adults try to meet children.  They'll also be taught not to give out personal information to others.

   Using cartoon characters as teachers, Brown said the program is tailored for younger students his office calls "tweenagers" -- those approaching adolescence but not yet in their teens.

   "They're the age where they'll get most excited about this program," he said, "But they're at the age where they're also most susceptible to predators on the Internet."

   Operation Blue Ridge Thunder, paid for by a $200,000 grant from the United States Department of Justice, is focused on tracking down Internet users who manufacture or distribute child pornography, and especially users who try to meet children on the Internet and lure them into sex.

   James G. Blevins, Bedford School Superintendent, and the School Board have been briefed on the "Safe Surfin'" program and have agreed to kick off the program in Bedford schools in mid-May.

   Brown will meet with Salem school officials next week.

   But it will be next year when the rest of the state gets an in-depth introduction to the program.

   Blevins said that since he previewed the program, he has contacted Al Butler, executive superintendent of schools for the state, and asked to get Brown on the agenda for an October meeting of Virginia superintendents that will be held in Lynchburg.

   Blevins said it is not unusual for a locality to introduce a program to the rest of the state at the biannual meetings, and that he expects a warm reception to the Internet program.

  "I think the superintendents probably will be supportive of this," he said.  "I think one of the things we'll be able to do is take what we've learned here (in Bedford this year) and carry that forward."