EudoraNews.com

Anissa Norris, the Safe Schools Healthy Students Grant assistant director, talked about an upcoming cyber bullying awareness workshop, which will be from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Eudora Middle School.

Q: Can you state the need for this workshop in the community?

A: We all know it’s gained national media attention and it’s a problem in our community, as well. Even in the smallest communities it’s a concern. The one thing that we’re finding, as far as parents go, is this isn’t something we encountered as children — being able to text people and say things behind a screen. This is a facet of bullying, in general, which is part of our (safe schools/healthy students) grant.

Q: And since many parents don’t understand, what do parents need to know about cyber bullying?

A: We won’t really talk about Internet safety because that is a whole different topic. However, kids have to be 13 years old to have a Facebook account. But all they have to do is use a fake birth date and just I don’t think all parents understand how easy it is for kids to do those types of things. So, it’s important that parents are aware of what their children could be doing and it’s important to

figure out ways to let our kids know how to properly interact.

Q: What will the session cover?

A: We’ll talk about what cyber bullying is ad how to prevent it. Our presenter (Lawrence Police Department detective Dean Brown) will also talk about the legal issues. So it will be an informational session on a lot of things that maybe most parents don’t even consider, like if someone is talking to another person in a different state then they could be subject to that state’s laws, too.

Q: What is Lawrence Police Department detective Dean Brown’s background with cyber bullying?

A: The primary reason he was chosen is because he has been talking about this topic with students at the middle school for about three years and so it made a lot of sense for the parents to hear the same information the kids are hearing.

Q: What will be the meeting format?

A: Our speaker will talk a lot about how to detect, how to prevent, and how to protect (children from cyber bullying). Then, we’ll have some representatives from the school district there and we’ll have some time for questions and answers from parents. That may delve into more local questions.