In an effort to make the Internet a safer place for fourth and fifth graders, an Internet safety program was organized through the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office called “Safe Surf.”

“Safe Surf” first started when the Children’s Protection Act was passed by the federal congress in 2000. The aim of this act is “to address concerns about children’s access to obscene or harmful content over the Internet.” The act requires schools that provide internet access to children, yet also, “must provide for educating minors about appropriate online behavior, including interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms, and cyber bullying awareness and response.”

Merion elementary school in Lower Merion School District had a glitch in their Internet safety Safe Surf program on Wednesday, October 16th. In a letter sent home to parents, Merion Elementary principal Anne began, “While there were many worthwhile and timely topics shared with students about the use of technology, there were several comments and topics that were presented that were not age-appropriate for a nine and ten year-old audience. I want to make sure you are aware of these items of concern should your children bring them up when they come home from school today.”

The letter then went on to mention some of the inappropriate material discussed in the safety session, such as child pornography being illegal and not being able to know whether opponents on online video games are potential threats to their lives. In addition, the presenter assigned “homework” to the students. They were told to look up sex offenders in their area on Megan’s Law’s Pennsylvania website with their parents.

While the presenter was discussing whether students should carry cell phones for emergencies, an inappropriate joke was made, defining an emergency as being kidnapped by al Qaeda.

The Attorney General’s Office of Pennsylvania takes full responsibility for the inappropriate content presented to the fourth and fifth graders, as the presenter was a representative from the office. The AGO of PA (attorney general’s office of Pennsylvania) also mentioned that the person normally giving the presentation was not in the office that day, so the presenter that day was “not aware of the district’s specific requests.”

LMSD director of School and Community Relations, Doug Young, announced that the district plans to continue the Safe Surf program in their schools.