President’s Letter: NetSmartz and Beau Biden Foundation Teach Internet Safety

This month, I’m excited to share that one of DSCA’s strongest champions, the Beau Biden Foundation for the Protection of Children, has partnered with the Special Olympics to help better protect its athletes. As many of you know, BBF’s mission is to protect children from abuse; this protection is especially important for children with disabilities, as they are three times more likely to be abused. 
 
In celebration of their new partnership, I am highlighting what BBF has done for school counselors and our students here in Delaware. With help from the foundation, more than 200 of us have received internet safety training using the NetSmartz platform, exploring good digital citizenship, online safety and the dangers of cyberbullying. This training helps adults understand what children do online and presents ways to foster healthy conversations about digital safety, and it is something all of us who work with children should have.
 
Through our partnership with BBF, we were able to reach nearly two thirds of Delaware’s school counselors. This means we still have one third to go, as well as our nearly 137,000 students. Kids of all ages benefit from this training, which is tailored to each age group. For younger children and teens, BBF teaches them how to identify dangers like cyberbullying and online privacy violations with the use of animated characters. In grades eight through 12, they learn to think critically about how they use the internet, and how to recognize online risky behaviors and about internet misuse.
 
The world has changed in many ways since we were kids, and children now face many new kinds of threats of abuse. As adults, we have the responsibility to recognize and protect kids from all of them – old and new. We are lucky to have organizations like the Beau Biden Foundation that provide their expertise to those of us who engage with children, whether in the traditional school setting or through programs like Special Olympics. I wish BBF the very best as they embark on this new phase of their very important work.
 
We are almost halfway through our 2018-2019 school year, but it is never too late to talk about protecting our kids. If you would like more information on how to bring internet safety training to your school through the Beau Biden Foundation, please do not hesitate to contact me.
 
Contact Brandon Townsend, DSCA president, at brandon.townsend@mydsca.org.