In the past month, Benicia Unified School District had two separate scare instances that initiated the need for a discussion on teens and the use of social media.

In September, a Benicia High School student made violent threats against his school on the messaging site Kik. After the incident was reported to Benicia High officials, the school was placed on lockdown and the suspect was arrested.

In October, in the midst of a “creepy clown” media frenzy, a Benicia Middle School student reported a post on Instagram with a photo of a scary clown’s face and the caption “I’m going to shoot up your school BMS.” Police could not determine if the threat was leveled at Benicia Middle School but still increased its presence at the campus the following day.

As a response to both incidents, BUSD will be partnering with the Benicia Police Department to host Cyber Safety Night at Benicia High School. BPD will be delivering a presentation and allow time for questions and answers at the end.

According to Leslie Beatson, the assistant superintendent of educational services, the goals of the presentation will be for parents to understand how communities provide a model for children, identifying a list of house rules for children, understanding practices for parenting in a digital world and understanding how to create a responsible use contract with their children.

Although the presentation is aimed mainly at parents, Beatson said children are encouraged to attend.

“There will be a couple of videos shared that have content aimed at teens,” she said.

Beatson hopes the presentation will be an effective tool for parents and students alike.

“We are hoping we have a good turnout for this timely presentation. Working to instill responsible use of technology with our children is a joint effort between parents, school and community,” she said. “We are looking forward to a great evening and are excited to work with BPD on this event.”

Cyber Safety Night will be held at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 27 in Room L2/L3 at Benicia High, located at 1101 Military West. For more information, call the district office at 747-8300.

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