In November 2012, five “Peer Helpers” from St. Joseph High School in Lakewood and a selected group of boys from St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower attended the annual Cyber Crime Prevention Symposium, sponsored by the Inter Agency Council on Abuse and Neglect (ICAN), Cyber Crime Prevention Subcommittee (CCPS), and numerous law enforcement agencies. The symposium planning committee challenged the teams of representatives from each school present to develop cyber safety program(s) at their respective schools. In January, after developing separate presentations for freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors, the entire Peer Helping team (led by the leaders from St. Joseph and St. John Bosco) coordinated and gave presentations for their student bodies.Faculty leaders Cathie Calderon (moderator of the Peer Helpers), Elizabeth Salazar and Debbie Haley met with the students and worked with the student members. For their efforts in developing and presenting Cyber Crime Safety to the SJHS student body, the Peer Helpers and moderators were honored by ICAN as winners in the 2013 Cyber Crime Prevention Challenge. Representatives of the Los Angeles Archdiocese, the City Attorney's Office and ICAN paid tribute at a special assembly May 16 held in St. Joseph’s Flynn Center, as the school received a trophy and cash award, while the Peer Helpers received a full day of CyberAlly Workshop Training valued at $2,500. The entire St. Joseph student body was joined for the assembly and the showing of the student-made iMovie of their program by St. John Bosco High School student leaders. Also on hand were Tracy Webb, senior trial deputy in charge of Cyber Crime and Child Abuse Prosecution Division, Los Angeles City Attorney's Office; Suzanne Healy, coordinator of Victims Assistance Ministry, Los Angeles Archdiocese; Lisa Feldman, Assistant U.S. Attorney; Deputy Sheriff Peter Hahn, Special Victims Bureau; and Donna Uy-Barreta, Special Administrative Coordinator, Los Angeles City Attorney's Office.ICAN was established in 1977 by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors as the official county agency to coordinate the development of services for the prevention, identification and treatment of child abuse and neglect. Its Policy Committee includes heads of 27 county, city, state and federal agencies, as well as UCLA, the Children's Planning Council and five private sector members appointed by the Board of Supervisors.Symposium scheduled Nov. 8The fifth annual Cyber Crime Prevention Symposium for students, educators and parents will take place Nov. 8 in downtown Los Angeles. Workshops on cyber bullying, social media and internet dangers, “sextortion,” cyber-related legal challenges and digital reputation will be presented by representatives from the FBI, L.A. City and U.S. Attorney's Offices, local law enforcement, UCLA Medical Center and the Anti-Defamation League.The symposim (8 a.m.-3:15 p.m.) will take place at the California Endowment, 1000 N. Alameda St., Los Angeles. The event is free, with breakfast and lunch included, but reservations are necessary and space per school is limited. For information, visit www.ican4kids.org/issues_CSEC_Cyber_Crime.asp. {gallery width=100 height=100}gallery/2013/1018/cybercrime/{/gallery}