Virginia to implement cybersafety lessons

Public schools throughout Virginia will soon begin offering safety lessons to help protect students from online predators, state officials say.

Tammy McGraw, director of educational technology for the Virginia Department of Education, said by offering Internet safety lessons at all public schools, students will learn ways to protect themselves online, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

"One of the things we realized is there is no one-size-fits-all approach," McGraw said. "Ultimately what we're trying to do is ensure we have safe and responsible Internet users."

McGraw said such Internet safety education efforts, which are similar to those in Maryland and the District of Columbia, would likely to woven into everyday education.

"It's not something that we think can really be addressed by bringing children together in an assembly," McGraw told the Post. "We think they have to think about it all the time."

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