Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and Alabama Interim Superintendent of Education Dr. Ed Richardson announced today a partnership between the Attorney General’s Office and the State Superintendent’s Office to provide cyber training to assist parents and school faculty in safe online practices for students.  The training will also instruct school faculty and parents in reporting to law enforcement any suspicious activity aimed at students and schools.

“I would like to thank Dr. Ed Richardson and the State Department of Education for their partnership in empowering parents and teachers with the ability to shield our children from online threats,” said Attorney General Marshall.  “We have been working together for several months to develop cyber training that helps parents and teachers determine if children are being targeted and how to report it to law enforcement.  Our training is focused on protecting our children and our schools.

“Last week, my office announced the creation of a new Cyber Crime Lab to assist state and local law enforcement in targeting and prosecuting cyber criminals who prey upon our citizens.  Today, my office is announcing a new partnership with the Alabama Department of Education to focus on ways to guard our young people from cyber predators.

“Nothing is more precious than our children and a well-informed parent is the best defense for a child from online threats.  My office will provide training to parents about online risks confronting children every day as well as ways to become involved in their social media activities while giving them the space to be independent.  Our experts will cover the most common smart phone applications (apps) accessible to young people which predators often use to contact young victims, as well as apps that allow young smart phone users to hide files and photos from parents.

“My office will also work with the State Department of Education and the makers of smartphone applications to develop policies that address child safety and security issues before they start.  Furthermore, cybercrime experts from my office will provide training to school administrators and faculty on how to preserve digital evidence and when to contact law enforcement.”

Schools and parents may contact the State Department of Education at comm@alsde.edu to request a training session.  Training sessions will be open to the public.