The U is now offering courses to help students keep their children safe.
“Internet Safety: A ‘How-To’ for Parents,” is a one-day class offered by the department of Continuing Education at the U to teach adults how to protect their families online while still using the many resources the Internet has to offer.
Inita Lyon, the technology education director for continuing education, will be the instructor for all three classes.
“Parents should understand that, if they aren’t watching their children’s Internet activities, someone else might be,” Lyon wrote in a statement. “This class gives parents the tools they need to enable safe, educational Internet use while protecting their families from dangerous online predators.”
The Utah attorney general’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force announced that one in five teens has received unwanted requests online to engage in sexual activities or has been asked to provide sexual information.
One in four has been exposed to pornography online.
As the number of online predators increases, the need for safe Internet surfing becomes more important.
The Internet Safety class will be a hands-on class taught in a computer lab and will help accomplish this safety.
“Parents can learn by doing, not just by listening,” said Virginia Gowski, marketing director for continuing education.
Parents will learn about topics such as adjusting browser settings, Internet service providers (ISPs) and the help they can offer, file-sharing software, downloading files, chat rooms, instant messaging and privacy issues.
The class can also help couples who plan to have children in the future and want to learn how to protect their children early on.
“I’m certain that Internet crimes will only continue to increase by the time my husband and I have children,” said Allyson White, a junior sociology major. “If he and I have the opportunity to educate ourselves in protecting our children and home from this type of perversion/crime, we’d do so.”
“This class is important. This knowledge will enable the parent to educate his or her children on which things to avoid while on the computer,” White said. “Without this knowledge, it’s too easy to become a victim of Internet crime.”
The Internet safety class will be held at three locations on the following dates: Bountiful (Oct. 25, 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.), Murray (Sept. 30, 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.) and Sandy (Nov. 30, 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.).
Discounts are applicable if two adults from one family enroll in the class. Online registration is available at continue.utah.edu/edtech, or by calling (801) 581-6061.