The training program adopts a "train the trainer'' approach which has been used by the State Police's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force to teach county and local law enforcement officials about Internet safety. In addition, members of the State Police Cyber Crimes Unit have regularly made safety presentations at schools and to parent groups throughout the state.
An all-day training session was held for approximately 40 Salem County teachers and school administrators as a pilot program for the statewide program which will be rolled out in the fall.
The Attorney General's Office and the education department plan at least five regional training programs starting in October, with a goal of reaching a total of 1,000 educators.
Governor Jon S. Corzine requested the training program earlier this month in a letter to Milgram and Davy in which he wrote, "With all of the benefits that evolving technologies provide us, too many unfortunate opportunities exist for adults to exploit children through the use of the Internet.''
In a response to the governor announcing the training program, Milgram and Davy wrote, "We believe our program to train school teachers and administrators on how best to teach their students to navigate the Internet safely will significantly reduce the threat of our children falling victim to predators. We are optimistic that this initiative will prepare our children to use the Internet cautiously and safely and help educators and parents provide children with the guidance and assurance they need to do so confidently.''
The Salem County training session included presentations from cyber crimes experts with the State Police and a number of county prosecutor's offices, as well as a representative from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The session was organized by State Police Lt. Keith Halton of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and Carol Mizrahi of the Salem County Office of Education.
The training curriculum was designed to cover such topics as cyber bullying, the potential dangers of social networking sites and gambling sites, the behavioral traits of sexual predators and the methods they use to lure potential victims.
Educators attending training sessions will receive training manuals and DVDs with a number of Internet safety programs produced by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the New Jersey State Police.
