Free course on kids’ cybersecurity offered for parents by McHenry County regional education office

The McHenry County Regional Office of Education will offer a free virtual class to educate parents on keeping children safe online from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 15, in both English and Spanish.

The course will be taught by child crime expert and retired police detective Richard Wistocki, who worked as an internet crimes investigator with the Naperville Police Department for 22 years. He also was a founding members of the Illinois Attorney General’s Crimes Against Children Task Force and a member of the US Secret Service Computer Crimes Task Force and has authored Illinois laws regarding sexting and sexual exploitation of children, according to the regional office of education. Wistocki is president of BeSure Consulting, which specializes in educating parents and students about online safety.

“Technology and the internet are now an inseparable part of children’s lives – but while it presents tremendous opportunity, there are dangerous people who can, and do, use it to target them,” Regional Superintendent of Schools Diana Hartmann said in a news release.

Topics in the presentation will include cyberbullying, understanding a child’s phone apps, the dangers of online gaming, the dangers of posting photos and videos to social media, filesharing, sexting and how to talk to children about technology.

To participate in the parents' cybersecurity course in English on Zoom, go to us02web.zoom.us/j/88940522652. To view the cybersecurity course in Spanish via Zoom, go to bit.ly/3D1aifC.

For more information, call 815-334-4475 or email dkhartmann@mchenrycountyil.gov.