Winona Health, Winona Foundation, Winona Public Schools, Winona Police Department, National Child Protection Training Center and the United Way of the Greater Winona Area have worked together to offer two free presentations on cyberbullying.

The programs offer parents, teachers, students and the community an opportunity to become informed about Internet safety issues affecting children and teenagers.

A presentation titled Internet Crimes Against Children will be presented by Karina Berzins from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety at the Winona Senior High School Auditorium on Wednesday, December 16 from 6 until 7:30 p.m.

The second presentation titled Cyberbullying: What Parents and Educators Need to Know will be presented by Dr. Justin Patchin, co-director, Cyberbullying Research Center and Associated Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. This presentation will be held at the Winona Middle School Auditorium on Saturday, January 23, 2010 from 10 until 11 a.m. This presentation is also part of Healthy Kids Club Healthy University.

"Although technology has made our lives easier and allowed us to better connect, there are also real dangers with today's technology that parents might not even be aware of. Social networking like MySpace, Facebook and texting can be more dangerous than teens and parents are aware," commented Jennifer Olson, Winona Health community relations manager.

There is no charge for either presentation. For more information about either presentation, please call Jennifer Olson at 507.457.4161. For more information about cyberbullying, visit winonahealth.org/HKC.