PORT TOWNSEND — Giggles swept through the classroom and young students fidgeted in their seats Thursday as state Attorney General Christine Gregoire asked about their Internet habits and told them the story of a teenage girl who was approached about being a model.
The room of seventh-graders at Blue Herson Middle School went silent — except for a whispered “That’s scary” — as Gregoire explained how the girl was raped by a man posing as a young girl on the Internet in order to lure victims to offline meetings.
“I hate to offend parents by being so graphic,” Gregoire said after the hour-long session with nearly 50 students.
“But it’s the only way to get their attention.”
The scenario is the same at every school statewide where Gregoire takes her “Safety Net” campaign, she said.
“Do you see how quiet they got?” she said. “It happens every time.”
The program is aimed at middle-school students because of the immaturity of most students in that age range.
“This is a critical time for them,” Gregoire said. “They’re just beginning to discover their sexuality and they’re acting out. They’re doing things online that is very risky behavior.”
Gregoire said she hopes the stories serve as a wake-up call that stick with students until they mature a bit more.
“You don’t see the same kind of behavior when they get into high school,” she said.
Port Townsend Police Chief Kristen Andersen said she hopes the program raises awareness and prompts more children to tell their parents or other adults about attempted offline contacts.
Gregoire said one in five teens using the Internet is harassed, but only 7 percent of the victims tell anyone.
The Internet is a great place for doing research and chatting with friends, and Gregoire offered advice for teens who surf the Net:
* Use a free e-mail service rather than the one provided by an Internet service provider. This allows use of an identifier that isn’t real and can be regularly changed without cost.
* Chat only with friends already known from offline situations.
* When forwarding information, use only the BCC command, which hides the list of people who are going to receive the e-mail so a predator can’t stockpile addresses.
* Never put any personal information on the Internet.
* Find alternatives to buying things from online auction sites.
* Don’t talk to strangers, online or offline.
