Attorney General Josh Stein unveils safety agreement to keep students safer online

RALEIGH, NC (WWAY) — Attorney General Josh Stein joined students at Cleveland Elementary School in Clayton, NC this morning to unveil the North Carolina Department of Justice’s tech safety agreement.

The agreement is a new resource to help parents and caregivers keep their kids safe online.

The agreement is intended to spur discussions with children about how they can stay safe online, be on the alert for warning signs of scams and predatory behavior, and make good decisions. The new resource will help open conversations between children and adults on how to use the internet and social media responsibly while safeguarding their well-being and personal information.

“Keeping our kids safe wherever they are is job one for parents and our state government,” Attorney General Josh Stein said. “More and more, that’s online. With our students back in school, I want to provide parents a useful tool to help them have important conversations with their children about online safety and responsible screen time.”

On average, 8- to 12-year-olds use screens for more than five and a half hours a day, and 13- to 18-year-olds use screens for more than eight and a half hours a day, according to a press release. The tech agreement helps young people better understand who they should and shouldn’t talk to online, the information and content that is not appropriate to share, when to share concerns about their health and safety with adults, and the importance of balancing screen time with offline activities.