01/09/2012 03:39 PM

Students Learn Online Safety By Putting Creative Skills to the Test

By: Cristina Domingues

It seems children of all ages, are walking around today with some sort of smart phone, i-pad, i-pod or minicomputer in their hands. The more advanced technology gets, the more creative some schools are becoming in teaching kids about how to use all those gadgets safely. YNN's Cristina Domingues reports from Allendale Columbia school in Pittsford.

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All the middle school students at Allendale Columbia School in Pittsford received iPads earlier this year. Those iPads are used often in class, but students can also take them home and use them for whatever they want.

The school is always looking for ways to make sure students are using the technology, safely.

The sixth, seventh and eighth grade students Monday, competed in the school's first Responsible Online contest. They had to use their iPads to make a 60-second message about online safety and responsibility.

Sixth grader James Bourtis said he has talked about using the internet safely at school and at home with his family.

"What I made was an animated short film about a guy who meets his Facebook friend," said Bourtis. "In the news, you see people are kidnapped, taken, killed because of something they did online. But online safety can also mean something less dramatic, somebody cyberbullying, or some virus that's online that could take over your computer."

School IT director Brian Meehan said teaching kids about online safety and responsibility is an continual process.

"That could be anything to being safe when you post on Facebook, to not cheating on an online game or paying for the songs you download," said Meehan.

RIT professor Cathy Beaton was not only a judge for the contest but is also the parent of a seventh grader at the school.

"As we watch the internet grow, we see more and more people are becoming involved, the global community shrinking, children becoming friends with other children from other countries," said Beaton. "Giving access to that kind of technology with parents who don't necessarily have the knowledge to guide them, it becomes critical for the kids to learn about the potential problems."

The winners of the contest, one from each grade including James, walked away with the title and prizes.

While this was the first year for the contest, school leaders hope it isn't the last.