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Orange County students learn digital safety for Cyber Security Awareness Month

Windermere Elementary School students taught safe internet practices

WINDERMERE, Fla. – Third graders at Windermere Elementary School got a different lesson Wednesday with the help of Garfield and friends.

They learned the basics of cyber safety.

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“Our students these days are exposed to so many different forms of technology and so we just want to make sure that we give them the tools to be safe if they ever do have to encounter a situation,” said Kim Taylor, a teacher at Windermere Elementary School.

Taylor showed students a whole presentation about the dangers of putting personal information online.

They answered true or false questions and learned different ways to avoid talking to strangers.

“We never had to worry about these things, so unfortunately our students have to worry about strangers in person, but also in the cyber world, and that’s a much more aggressive world right now,” Taylor explained.

According to the Children’s Internet Usage Study, 40% of kids in grades 4-8 have already contacted a stranger online. Of those, 53% revealed their phone number to a stranger and 11% met with that stranger.

Taylor said those stats are a reminder to always keep educating young students about the internet.

“Not always is it a person that’s your friend behind that computer and so we just want to make them aware, not scare them, but just make them aware,” she said.