St. Ambrose School First in Eastern Missouri to Win National FBI Internet Safety Challenge

This morning, Dean C. Bryant, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI St. Louis Division, presented the national award to St. Ambrose School on the Hill for winning the FBI Safe Online Surfing (FBI-SOS) Internet Challenge. St. Ambrose School is the first to win within FBI St. Louis Division’s territory, which covers the entire eastern part of Missouri.

FBI-SOS is a free, web-based initiative designed to educate third through eighth grade students about cyber safety. All public, private, and home schools are eligible to participate in this entertaining and educational program, which can be accessed year-round, either in the classroom or at home.

The website features six grade-specific “islands.” Each island includes seven or eight learning portals for students to visit. Using different types of media, such as games and videos, these areas address topics such as the protection of personal information, password strength, cell phone safety, social networking, and online gaming safety. The videos include real-life stories of kids who have faced cyber bullies and online predators. After students have completed all activities on the island, they are given an exam.

Each month, schools compete for the national award in three categories. The categories are determined by the amount of students participating from each school. St. Ambrose is the national winner for January 2013 in the Stingray category (51-100 participants). The other two categories are Starfish (5-50 participants) and Shark (more than 100 participants).

Kids of all ages—and even adults—can explore the site, play the games, watch the videos, and learn about cyber safety. However, the exam used for competing can only be taken by third to eighth grade students whose classes have been registered by their teachers.

The FBI-SOS Internet Challenge was developed with the assistance of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, with input from teachers and schools. FBI-SOS is available through its newly revamped website at https://sos.fbi.gov.