43
Photo
Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Seventh- and eighth-grade students at Poland Middle School listened as Mahoning County Juvenile Court Program Coordinator James DeLucia spoke to them about internet safety.
Photo
Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Professionals came in to Poland Middle School on Feb. 2 and spoke to the students about internet safety. Pictured are, from left, Sharon Fischer, Anissa Modarelli and James DeLucia.
Photo
Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Juvenile Probation Officer Sharon Fischer spoke to the seventh- and eighth-grade students at Poland Middle School on Feb. 2 about online safety.
Photo
Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Sharon Fischer and James DeLucia spoke to the seventh- and eighth-grade students at Poland Middle School on Feb. 2 about internet safety.
Photo
Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Mahoning County Juvenile Court Program Coordinator James DeLucia walked around as he spoke to the students at Poland Middle School on Feb. 2.
By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI
Students at Poland Middle School received a lesson in learning about the dangers on the internet on Feb. 2.
Three professionals came in to give a presentation to the seventh- and eighth-grade students. Mahoning County Prosecutor Anissa Modarelli, Mahoning County Juvenile Court Program Coordinator James DeLucia and Juvenile Probation Officer Sharon Fischer stopped in to cover a variety of topics including sexting, cyberbullying and the legal and emotional consequences.
Parents were invited to attend the program along with their children. The school felt this was an important topic and wanted to make sure the students learned how to stay safe and the parents would learn how to help their children.
“We wanted them to be informed for their safety. It’s definitely a hot topic right now and we wanted to educate or students and keep them safe,” said Mary Jo Lukach, seventh- and eighth-grade counselor.
The presenters showed the students real life examples of what happened to people who took part in the activities the students were learning about. All three presenters explained the consequences and how participating in an online activity, legal or not, can change someone’s life.
“The cyber world the students are in, as adults we aren’t as familiar with that as they are, and it’s appropriate to have professionals to come and talk to our young people,” said Principal Mark Covell.
With students having easy access to smart phones and other technology at an early age, Poland wanted to teach them how to use them appropriately. The presentation was also given to the students at Poland Seminary High School.
At the end of the presentation, DeLucia answered aloud some of the questions the students sent in prior to the assembly. Many of the questions were about cyber bullying and what happened to some of the people that were talked about in the presentation.
“The cyber world and the social media world is growing daily. We can’t keep track of all the websites that pop up on a daily basis. So with the education and the kids talking to us, we can hopefully monitor and make sure our kids stay safe and they learn and protect themselves,” said school resource officer Steve Kent.