Keeping kids safe online

East Meadow PTA Council and Kiwanis Club members said they hope to empower parents and other community members with resources to keep children safe online by offering an educational program on Internet safety next week.

The groups will host their third workshop in the Knowledge is Power series on March 30, at 7 p.m., at the Leon J. Campo Salisbury Center. Brian Heid, a chief of two units in the Government and Consumer Frauds Bureau of the Nassau County district attorney’s office, will give a presentation covering topics ranging from social media to “sexting” to cyber-bullying and more.

The Knowledge is Power series is an initiative of Project ACCESS — A Community Committed to Educating Students for Success. ACCESS, a subcommittee of the PTA’s Curriculum Council, sponsors educational programs for parents throughout the year, with the goal of providing them with strategies to help their children achieve the highest level of academic success. It is a cooperative effort of the district administration, teachers and parents.

Denise Michaelis, the PTA Council chairwoman for ACCESS, said the group asked Heid to speak to community members at the third and final Knowledge is Power workshop of the year after he gave presentations at East Meadow’s middle and high schools. Michaelis said she feels it is important that parents learn the same information that their children already have.

“We have to be able to follow through,” she said. “We have to be able to continue these conversations at home. That connection is very important.”

Michaelis sat in on one of Heid’s presentations this winter, and she said he is a very good speaker who uses plenty of visuals and statistics that audiences find insightful. She described Heid, who has served the district attorney’s office for nearly a decade and a half, as extremely knowledgeable about computer-related offenses against children and teens.