Online Safety for Kids -- Bridging the Digital Divide

The DynTek team was proud to participate at the East Williston School District Digital Citizenship Day on Monday, October 7^th at Wheatley School in Old Westbury, NY.  Digital Citizenship Day was dedicated to teaching students about Internet Safety, Plagiarism, Cyberbullying, Identity Theft, Spam/Viruses and more!  Brian Gancherov, DynTek’s Managing Director of Security, presented the Online Safety for Kids curriculum developed by McAfee to approximately 170 10^th Grade students and their teachers.

Jonathan Adler, DynTek’s Account Representative for the Long Island area worked closely with the East Williston School District on the content for this event. Adler partners with schools throughout Nassau & Suffolk County on their IT initiatives.  “I grew up on Long Island and saw this opportunity with East Williston as a way to give back to my local community,” said Adler.  “Kids today are facing a whole new set of opportunities through social media and our connected world; however, with those opportunities come challenges, such as cyberbullying and online threats.  We, as IT professionals, are committed to helping provide these kids the tools and strategies they need to protect themselves and others.”

Gancherov talked to the kids about how they use the Internet and the potential consequences of revealing sensitive information online.  “As digital natives, teens and tweens are exploring digital avenues that parents aren’t even aware of and we have to proactively engage them in communication about potentially risky online behavior to bridge this digital divide,” said Gancherov.

The students were highly engaged and asked questions about the cyber-security threats they face on a daily basis.  We even had the teachers keep us after asking questions about their own online habits!

Gancherov was awarded the McAfee Community Service Award, North America in 2012 and 2013 for his role in training over 2400 kids about online safety.

DynTek and McAfee have partnered to help give back to the community through the Online Safety for Kids program.  The team is always open to providing a complimentary and education briefing to students throughout the country.  For more information, visit www.dyntek.com or http://www.mcafee.com/us/microsites/cybered/.