ARIZONA—With kids back to school, the FBI Phoenix Division wants to educate parents and students on how to safely search and be online.

Students are spending more time on the Internet, whether for school, social media, or research. Technology continues to advance and there are steps that educators, parents, adults, and students can take to be successful and safe online.

The FBI has developed a free computer literacy program called “Safe Online Surfing” or “SOS”. Teachers, administrators, and parents can utilize this program to help protect children. The Safe Online Surfing program includes age-specific materials for third to eighth grade and is available in English and Spanish. The program is a series of grade-appropriate online games that allow kids to have fun while also learning online lessons.

This program can help students:

• Explore what good online etiquette looks like.
• Manage cyber bullies.
• Show the importance of good passwords and double authentication.
• Download safely – either a new app or game on your phone.
• Screen friend requests in a responsible way.
• See the dangers of plagiarism and privacy violations.

Here are some helpful tips for parents—

• Talk to your kids about what kinds of information, photos, and videos are appropriate to post online—and what’s not.
• Remind them that one picture to a friend can lead to an entire school seeing that photo.
• Teach your kids how to limit the information they put online.
• They shouldn’t be posting their full name, date of birth, and school information on social media platforms.
• Explain that free software, apps, and downloads can be illegal, and some may open up your phone and computer to potential malware attacks.

If you are interested in learning more about the Safe Online Surfing program—go to sos.fbi.gov. As always, if you have been victimized by cyber fraud, be sure to report it to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov or call your local FBI office.