We held our annual spaghetti dinner on June 6th and served approximately 80 people. Our National Junior Honor Society served our guests a dinner of salad, bread, beverage, spaghetti and dessert. After dinner, our Peace Through Language group provided a babysitting service to young children and our HS Teen Institute Students led activities for the younger students while parents were given a presentation on Internet Safety. Soon to be DMS Parent and Secret Service Agent Tom West provided some relevant and informative guidance on how to keep children safe on the Internet. Mr. West said the most important thing parents can do is COMMUNICATE with your children. Parents should ask their children what they are doing on the Internet, who they are talking with, what sites they visit, etc. He said while we can place technological safeties on our computers there is always a way around the roadblocks. The best "firewall" is the parent. Parents should communicate, monitor and report. He asked parents to teach children how to use technology wisely and safely and not to give out personal information about themselves and not to friend people they do not know when using social network sites. He also suggested having computer access in an observable location so you can more easily monitor what your children are doing. Mr. West talked about cyberbullying and sexting indicating it is becoming a very widespread problem. Parents and students should always report incidences of cyberbullying and sexting. The following website is an excellent resource for learning more about Internet Safety and we encourage everyone to take a few minutes to check it out.
Thank you to all the teachers who donated pasta and sauce, to a parent who donated the salad and dressing, to the PTA members who made all the desserts, to all the teachers and students who helped prepare, cook, serve and clean up. It truly was a building effort and a worthwhile event!
