Savvy Cyber Kids (SCK), a website for instructing preschool aged children about the dangers of the internet, announced their partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Stop.Think.Connect. campaign today.
"Savvy Cyber Kids is excited to be partnering with the Department of Homeland Security's Stop.Think.Connect. National Network. We look forward to working with other National Network organizations to bring cyber security and awareness education to preschool and pre-K aged children," Savvy Cyber Kids Founder and President Ben Halpert said.
SCK said that the partnership will promote cybersecurity awareness to children nationwide. It said that the campaign will help provide SCK with tools and resources to raise awareness about online dangers and cybersecurity among young children before they use the internet.
"Increasing cybersecurity awareness is a crucial component of protecting against the threats we all face online in the 21st Century," said Mark Weatherford, Deputy Under Secretary for Cybersecurity at DHS. "With the help of Savvy Cyber Kids, the Stop.Think.Connect. Campaign will foster greater awareness about these threats through the promotion of new tools and initiatives that will help Americans across the country understand how they can better protect themselves, their families, and their communities."
According to its press release, "Savvy Cyber Kids focuses on ingraining security awareness and ethics into the minds of preschool aged children through its award-winning curriculum."
Currently, SCK's website has two lesson plans, four coloring activities, and a poster. They are available for free provided that the user register with their name and email address. The first lesson plan instructs the child to choose an "online identity name." The second lesson plan instructs children to choose two trusted adults. It says that the objective is to "understand appropriate responses to cyber bullying (and traditional bullying)".
There are two books that appear to go with the lesson plans. Those are available for $14.99 each from Amazon. The first book was created using a grant from McAfee, a computer security software company.
DHS created Stop.Think.Connect. in 2010 to "help Americans understand the risks that come with being online," according to its website. Becoming a partner is free and allows anyone to include the department's free resources on their website provided that they add the following to their copyright: "STOP. THINK. CONNECT. is a trademark of the STOP. THINK. CONNECT. Messaging Convention, Inc. 2010. The logos and artwork connected with the STOP. THINK. CONNECT. trademark are copyrighted 2010‐2011. All Rights Reserved." The user must also use the Stop.Think.Connect. logo correctly as instructed here.
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