Hawthorn students fit the profile of the most targeted demographic of organized cyber criminals: they’re young, female, and on-line. As a highly vulnerable sector for predators, they were eager to discuss their virtual realities, heighten their social media awareness, and equip themselves for safely and competently navigating the digital world thanks to our guest speaker María Villarino, co-founder of Sally Families.
Ms. Villarino works with a team of professionals whose mission it is to put their expertise in cybersecurity at the service of families, knowing that we all want our children to be safe on the internet and give them skills to be good digital citizens.
Immense thanks go out to Ms. Villarino who spent a week with us, tailoring her talks to the needs of different groups in our Hawthorn community. She was the first guest in this year’s Parents’ Speakers Series at a wine and cheese evening on November 7th, leading two talks: What Cyber Criminals Do Not Want You to Know and Having Difficult Conversations With Your Child About The Digital World.
She was the guest speaker at our staff and faculty’s Professional Activity Day on November 8th, testing our knowledge of cybersecurity for schools and educating us about pornography prevention.
Most importantly, perhaps, she spoke to our grades 3 to 12 students in separate discussions. She acknowledged that they are the first generation of digital natives and are thus suffering the first serious consequences of the dangers of the digital world. She asked them to ask themselves how they want to use technology, guided them in how they can live with alert common sense on the internet, and cautioned them about being mindful and aware of protecting their on-line presence and digital footprint.¡Gracias, Sra Villarino!
