The Virginian-Pilot
©
RICHMOND
Rayne Clinton isn't a monster, but he plays one on the Internet.
Along with several classmates at Virginia Beach's Tallwood High School, Rayne produced a video to admonish teens against cyberbullying.
Their "Cyber Nightmare" video was one of three - out of more than 200 entries from students across the state - selected as finalists in a contest sponsored by the office of Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell.
Rayne donned a monster mask in the short film, but he wore a shirt and tie Wednesday to a ceremony in Richmond where the top videos were announced.
"People our age don't really know the true consequences of what they do on the Internet," said Rayne, a 16-year-old sophomore who also filmed and narrated the project.
The winning video will be determined by online votes cast through May 1 at www.projectsafetynetva.com. The top three videos can also be viewed there.
The public service announcement that nets the most votes will air as a commercial on cable television stations across the state this spring, McDonnell said.
"Young people are the best messengers to other young people about how to keep them safe on the brave new world of the Internet," said McDonnell, who is from Virginia Beach.
He likened the effort to a modern version of the "don't talk to strangers" adage. "You have to take those warnings and update them for the cyberage to your children,"
McDonnell told parents in the audience.
Rayne's mother, Kenyette Higgs, said adults can be "phobic of the Internet and the computer, but now it's very imperative that we learn about it because of the potential risks to our children's safety."
McDonnell's office has been trying to curb Internet crime.
Last year, his office successfully supported legislation creating tougher penalties for people who use the Internet to distribute or acquire child pornography. That legislation also requires sex offenders to register their e-mail addresses and online identities with authorities.
The legislature also dedicated more money in the proposed two-year state budget to law enforcement units that work to prevent Internet child exploitation crimes.
Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com
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Pathetic Joke
This story is a joke. Pre-teen adults are in fear of cyber-bullies? Are you choking my chain? Lets grow up people and stop treating these near adults as teenie-weenies. This is childish and infantile discussion to say the least. If these cupcakes are so feeble as to where they may become victims of 'cyber bullying'( DID SOMEBODY KINDERGARTEN)their chances in the real world aren't looking so good.
Generation "Embarrassment"
Holy cow! You mean to tell me kids these days are worried about bullies taking on the form of binary numbers? I.E. 1's & 0's, etc?
How sad. This is as sad as these same punks using guns to solve arguments.
Back in my day we solved problems with our fists if necessary, and shook hands afterwards, sometimes becoming best of friends. Yes, school bullies got their butts whipped also --- there's always a bigger bully or a nerd that's had enough!
sexual predators are not the only internet safety risk
i must respectfully disagree with the previous poster's comment that the entries that did not explicitly focus on sexual predators did not accurately portray the dangers of the internet. contrary to what many believe, sexual predators on the internet--albeit, very dangerous, are not the only internet safety risks. the entrants of this contest presented a range of potential internet safety issues; to include cyber stalking and identity theft. many kids are indeed traumatized and suffer emotional issues due to cyber stalking and bullying; as well as having personal information misused, due to disclosing it over the internet.
Congratulations
Congratulations to the students for their work, but I'm a bit concerned at the use of the word bullying in the context of sexual predators. That really diminishes that kind of crime and makes it sound like some kind of immature aggressiveness.