College of Education sponsors 2010 Internet Safety Essay Contest

College of Education sponsors 2010 Internet Safety Essay Contest

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:Jennifer L Parks, (808) 956-0416
Communications Coordinator, College of Education
Posted: Sep. 9, 2010

To coincide with National Cyber Security Month in October, the College of Education’s Curriculum Research & Development Group (CRDG) at the UH Mānoa campus has announced a 2010 Internet Safety Essay Contest that is open to all Hawai‘i students in grades 6-12.

The essay contest is part of a two-year, $435,000 grant project funded by the U.S. Department of Justice called Multimedia Juvenile Victimization (MJV): Insights into Youth Behavior to Help Law Enforcement (MJV). It is one of CRDG’s research initiatives in the area of technology use and safety in schools. Public, private, and charter school students in Hawai‘i are invited to enter. Internet safety topics include sexting, online sexual predators, scam artists, cyber bullies, and cyber stalkers. Entry deadline is Monday, November 15, 2010. A panel of judges that will include teachers, principals, and members of law enforcement will select 20 winning essays. Prizes include $100 per selected essay as well as inclusion in an electronic book. More information about the contest may be found online at http://www.hawaii.edu/crdg/internetsafety/essaycontest/. Thanh Truc Nguyen of CRDG, who also serves as director of the MJV project, said, “We tell our kids to beware of strangers, but we don’t necessarily talk to them about strangers on the Internet. This essay contest is a chance for them to voice their opinions about Internet safety issues.