Division of Educational Research and Service

What do we do on Internet Safety and Cyberbullying issues?

The Montana Safe Schools Center offers training and research for  students, parents, teachers, police officers and community groups that strengthen safe, respectful and responsible use of the Internet and that aim to reduce instances of cyberbullying.  

In May 2008, in partnership with the Montana Attorney General's office, we unveiled Safe in YourSpace - a comprehensive educational website devoted to keeping young people safe online.  In December 2008, we assisted with the University of Colorado's Institute for the Study and Prevention of Violence on a forthcoming U.S. Dept. of Education Challenge Newsletter specific to cyberbullying issues.

Who do we work with?

To help address these issues, MSSC has provided skills training to hundreds of students, parents, schools, and community groups across Montana and the United States. Through our own research and through collaborations with organizations such as the FBI, i-SAFE America, NetSmartz, the Montana Attorney General, School Resource Officers (SROs) across the state and police departments in Missoula, Billings, Helena and Great Falls, MSSC has contributed to the understanding of how digital media impacts the lives of Montana's children and youth. 

Where have we worked? (For a complete list visit here)

Some of the locations MSSC has provided Internet Safety and Cyberbullying Prevention trainings to schools and community groups include:

According to the 2006 Teen Internet Safety Survey conducted by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and Cox Communications, 33 percent of 13- to 17-year-old  youths reported that their parents or guardians know "very little" or "nothing" about what they do on the Internet.

Unfortunately, according the 2006 study Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later (PDF), when young people go online:

13% (1 in 7) received unwanted sexual solicitations.
34% communicate with people they have never met.
11% establish close personal relationships with individuals they meet online.