Local third-graders get a lesson on cyber safety

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Thousands of Tampa Bay-area elementary school students are getting a crash course in internet safety. 

School districts across the area are celebrating Cyber Safety Day Tampa Bay on Tuesday by inviting cyber safety professionals to teach programs in local classrooms. 

The Center for Cyber Safety will lead the lessons. CCS is a non-profit organization offering internet safety programs ranging from social media, online gaming, online shopping and much more.

Forty percent of kids in grades 4-8 have chatted with a stranger online. Of those, 53 percent revealed their phone number to a stranger and 11 percent met with a stranger in-person, according to the Center’s Children’s Internet Usage study.

Armed with the most recent data, internet safety specialists visited dozens of third grade classrooms in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, and Manatee counties.