A new internet safety program, to teach children the dangers of online posting, is being launched in Belleville.
The Children’s Safety Village, which has been offering street safety lessons for years, is launching a new internet safety program this fall, helping children stay safe online by learning new skills.
The students, grade five to eight, will be using the most up-to-date social media platforms and app technology within the safety of the village.
Internet security consultant Matt Richardson says first there will be a classroom lesson, then the children will take iPads out into the Village and post messages.
Then return to the classroom.
Richardson says the program emphasizes that online activities can have real world consequences.
He says that as far as he knows it is the “first of its kind.”
The Children’s Safety Village is located behind the Belleville Police Service and is currently used to teach street and pedestrian safety to students in grades 2, 3 and 4 in an interactive environment.
The Village has an intersection with operating traffic lights and railway crossing placed among miniature buildings that represents various Belleville community buildings and businesses.
Classes are taught by a uniformed officer from the Belleville Police Service in the larger building and then students walk, drive jeeps or ride bikes through the little streets to practice what they’ve learned.
