Applied Connective’s Jarod Dendinger, VP of Business Development, and Brandon Petersen, Relationship Manager, (both based in the Norfolk office) were the keynote speakers for a holistic health day for students in northeast Nebraska.
Dendinger and Petersen spent time educating 130 fifth graders on internet safety, a topic of critical importance for youth and adults alike today.
The IT professionals shared age-appropriate professional insights and personal anecdotes throughout their 45-minute presentation, which included lively Q&A, as the students were very engaged with a multitude of wide-ranging questions around internet, gaming, social media, cyber attacks and more.
Heavily emphasized in the ACT pair’s speech was the importance of responsibility and integrity when using the internet. Topics covered ranged from personally identifiable information (PII) do’s and don’ts, scams and “tricky people” (phishing, catfishing, profile hijacking, etc.), malware/viruses, comparison/highlight reels, excessive screen use—the negative impacts on physical and mental health and cyber bullying.
“We’re far more accustomed to presenting to professional audiences on IT, cybersecurity and internet safety,” says Dendinger. “But this is a conversation that is of utmost importance to today’s youth too so we were more than happy to lend our voices and insights from our vantage points in IT. It was a jam-packed conversation, but the topics were things we feel everyone should know before they get their first device. It was our pleasure to connect with these kids to deliver some very important messages and encouragement about being responsible, having integrity and knowing the risks involved with internet usage.”
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To request a presentation from Applied Connective staff on internet safety, cybersecurity or other technical topics, please email hello@appliedconnective.com.