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Cheezo goes to Slater Elementary

Contributed by: Nicole Drahnak on 5/16/2007

Congratulations to Mr. Plock's third grade class at Slater Elementary School in Lakewood! Their artwork won First Prize in the Stranger Danger - Internet Stranger drawing contest hosted by the District Attorney's Office and Cheezo, the five foot, fuzzy, yellow lion mascot.

Cheezo, with District Attorney Investigator Mike Harris in tow, made a guest appearance at Slater Elementary School in April. They went to talk to second, third and fourth graders about Internet safety. Investigator Harris, a seasoned investigator, has discovered that even our very young kids are on the Internet every day and are particularly vulnerable to the unwanted advances of sexual predators.

For a decade Mike Harris has been going undercover, arresting those who prey on our kids. In the past few years he's developed prevention programs and presented wherever there was an interest. The program used in schools is Stranger Danger - Internet Strangers. Harris has designed specific programs for specific ages.

When District Attorney Scott Storey took office in 2005, he recognized the size and seriousness of the problems created by the amount of time kids spend unsupervised on the Internet. He created the Child Sex Offender Internet Investigations (CSOII) Unit under the direction of Mike Harris, who splits his time between arresting people who approach underage teens on the Internet for sex and talking to kids. Harris says he prefers talking to kids, "The younger kids are still very impressionable and open to safety messages that they will use throughout their childhoods. Their attention spans aren't long, so we use Cheezo and a video designed just for younger kids to help them remember even one or two important points." Harris also learns a lot from the kids, he says, " I get a lot of good information from them. They come up to me afterwards and tell me that I should check out this chat room or that game site."

Harris has added this special artwork contest feature to his presentations. Cheezo asks the kids to draw a picture of him and to include safety messages that they learned at the presentation, which further reinforces these safety messages in these young minds. The winning artwork will be used in a calendar the District Attorney's Office is putting together to promote Internet safety for kids.

For more information or to schedule a presentation, contact Investigator Harris at 303-271-6936.



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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Nicole Drahnak

Parker , CO

Nicole Drahnak has posted 67 stories and 0 comments since joining on 5/15/2007. Nicole Drahnak 's average story rating is 5.
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