WOODSTOCK, Ill. – The McHenry County Regional Office of Education is offering a free virtual class to educate parents about how to keep their children safe when it comes to technology.

The class, “Keeping Our Kids Cyber Safe,” takes place from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24; the Zoom link for the presentation is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84259241321.

 The course will be taught by Richard Wistocki, a child crime expert and retired police detective with more than 30 years of law enforcement experience, 22 of them as an internet crimes investigator with the Naperville Police Department. He was one of the founding members of the Illinois Attorney General’s Crimes Against Children Task Force and a member of the US Secret Service Computer Crimes Task Force; he also has authored Illinois laws regarding sexting and sexual exploitation of children. Wistocki is president of BeSure Consulting, which specializes in educating parents and students about online safety.

 “Mister Wistocki is one of the most knowledgeable experts in the field when it comes to protecting children online, and it’s our pleasure to bring this free course to McHenry County parents to arm them with the knowledge they need to help keep them safe,” Hartmann said.

 Topics that the presentation will cover include cyber-bullying; sextortion and inappropriate image sharing; Instagram, Snapchat and other popular social media platforms; online gaming and in-app risks; social media safety and privacy settings; cyberstalking, harassment and false personation; how and when to report cybercrime, cyberbullying and sextortion; protecting a child’s digital footprint; strategies for monitoring children’s devices and online activity, how to talk technology with your children; and the understanding that no one online is anonymous. An open Q&A will follow.

 For more information, call 815-334-4475, or email DKHartmann@mchenrycountyil.gov.