The Berks County Intermediate Unit, along with event partners, the PA Governor’s Office of Homeland Security, the Berks County District Attorney’s Office, and the Pennsylvania State Police, hosted Keeping Kids Safe: Cyber Security forums for more than 250 community members, parents, educators, business leaders, mental health providers, and law enforcement officials.
Attendees gathered at the Inn at Reading at two identical sessions on March 22, for free cyber security workshops presented by keynote speaker, Michele Stuart.
The main focus of the event was to help attendees understand the risks, obtain tools, and learn how to navigate their child’s use of social media and their cyber security. The forums covered bullying, sexual harassment, predatory behavior, and pornography exposure. Attendees learned how to set mobile privacy settings, discover the most current apps being used for social media, find out what current apps are being used for ‘secret’ communications or sexting, and hear how bullying happens and can ruin lives.
Dr. Jill Hackman, Executive Director for the Berks County Intermediate Unit reinforced the importance of connecting with community members and equipping them with the knowledge and tools to help keep kids safe.
“Protecting our children is a community commitment,” Dr. Hackman said. “We must work together as educators, parents, business leaders, law enforcement officials, and human service professionals to ensure that the more than 70,000 children in Berks County are kept safe from the dangers of social media and internet usage.”
Ronald Stanko, Deputy Director for the Pennsylvania Governor’s Office of Homeland Security, said that safety starts with communication between parents, schools, and law enforcement.
“Local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies work tirelessly to investigate and prevent threats to our most vulnerable populations. We are extremely fortunate and thankful to have heard from Michele Stuart about the importance of cyber security and the tools parents can use to help their children avoid risks online. When we work together to help keep our community safe, we keep our kids safe.”
John Adams, District Attorney for Berks County, also spoke at each session providing community resources and sharing what is being done at a local level to combat this serious issue.
Michele Stuart, Owner of JAG Investigations and keynote speaker for the forums, is a licensed private investigator with 20 years of experience. Stuart has served as an adjunct professor with the University of Virginia and an Instructor at Quantico for multi-country training programs. She provides seminars and private training on her specialized investigative techniques for both federal and state levels of law enforcement agencies and military intelligence throughout the U.S. including attendees of Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Marshals, FBI, DOJ, Border Patrol, Indian Tribal Nations, and local law enforcement agencies throughout the country.
