On Thursday, February 2, PSHS had a school assembly about serious problems teenagers are enduring due to internet safety issues. This assembly was for grades nine through twelve.

The speaker spoke about healthy relationships and what is healthy and what is not.

The speaker also showed the students videos of victims of bullying and cyberbullying. Another topic addressed was the danger of sexting and the legal consequences of doing so.

The presentation packed a lot of information into a short amount of time,  and it was very informative.

Here are some surprising research facts related to internet safety:

• According to Pew Research Center (2013), “31% of parents have helped their child put privacy settings in place on social networks.”
• According to “The Digital Divide: How the Online Behavior of Teens is Getting Past Parents” (2012), “Only 21.7% of parents think their teens can get in trouble online.”
• According to “The Digital Divide: How the Online Behavior of Teens is Getting Past Parents” (2012), “71% of teens have actually done something to hide their online behavior.” 
• In “The Online Generation Gap: Contrasting attitudes and behaviors among parents and teens” from Family Online Safety Institute and Hart Research Associates, “43% of teens say they have posted something online that they later regret.” 

Overall, the importance of being safe on the internet was emphasized.

Research Facts Gathered from: http://bgca.org/cybersafe/pages/cybersafe-stats.aspx