Protecting kids online; program offered at CTC

Southeast Missouri Network Against Sexual Violence (SEMO NASV) will host a “Parent Night” event to educate adults 18 years and older about ways to keep their children safe from online predators.

SEMO NASV has invited parents from the Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City school districts to attend at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 27 at Cape Girardeau’s Career and Technology Center (CTC), 1080 S. Silver Springs Road.

“We’re bringing in a nationally-recognized speaker, Melissa J. Straub, who is a private investigator and founder of High Impact Youth Training Solutions in Leonia, New Jersey,” said Alix Gasser, SEMO NASV’s development director since July 2021.

High Impact’s website makes reference to the increased risk children face because of the effect of remote learning during COVID.

“While online learning (became) the norm, it also opened the door to risks and potential risk exposure for children,” according to High Impact’s www.youthtrainingsolutions.com, adding the risks include cyberbullying, inappropriate content, predator solicitation and bias incidents.

Straub’s presentation at CTC is titled “A Parent’s Road Map to Protecting Children in the Digital World.”

“Her talk is geared toward parents or those 18 and older due to the subject matter,” Gasser added, noting SEMO NASV will have its Green Bear educators on hand that night on site to provide programming to children for whom Straub’s talk would not be age-appropriate.

“The only thing we ask of parents and grandparents is that the kids they bring with them to CTC be able to use the restroom by themselves,” she said.

SEMO NASV of Cape Girardeau was founded in 1997, with the not-for-profit marking its 25th anniversary this year.