Internet safety a growing concern for VCU students

It’s your choice. To Facebook or not to Facebook?

Edward O’Leary, president of the Student Government Association, and university administrators want to help students answer that question by ensuring they become more aware of the dangers of the Internet, specifically Web sites like Facebook.com and MySpace.com.

At a Board of Visitors meeting in the fall semester, O’Leary raised awareness on the topic during a presentation.

“I felt that it was important that they didn’t have misconceptions about it – to think that it’s better or worse than it is – which can happen when most of those people are in their 50s,” O’Leary said.

School officials said the Taylor Behl situation brought their attention to the subject.

“Certainly with the tragic death of Taylor – that was just a small component of what occurred – but it alerted us to the possible dangers,” said Reuban B. Rodriguez, dean of students and associate vice provost for student affairs.

The university has begun to disseminate the information through e-mails to students and in meetings with dorm advisers. Incoming first-year students will see the changes right away during the university orientation VCU 101 class.

“I think we do a fairly effective job on the dangers of alcohol and on behavior in terms of boy (and) girl behavior,” VCU President Eugene P. Trani said. “I think we hit those issues pretty well in our (student) orientation. I don’t think we spend much time at all on the Internet.”

There are no plans to restrict students’ access to these sites despite the university’s concern about safety and the Internet.

“It’s just something we want to be able to educate our students on and have them realize that they’re not just the ones reading and writing in these different spaces, but that it’s basically the whole world who has the opportunity to look into what they’re putting on there,” Rodriguez said.

Trani said the university wants to make students aware about the possible dangers of physical space and virtual space.

“I think what the university can do is put sufficient cautions out there for the students.” he said. “It would be up to the students (to stay safe). You’ve just got to prepare them.”

O’Leary agreed, saying what students eventually do needs to be left up to them.

“It’s good that the university is warning people, but again, it’s important that we have a choice in the end of what to do,” O’Leary said. “It’s obviously a part of college life now and a really big part. It’s really important that people are aware of the dangers.”