Nearly 30 parents and RCS school district residents turned out for the second parent information night of the school year Wednesday.

The evening event - a two-hour discussion on internet safety and how parents can protect their children from internet predators and cyberbullies - was led by Cindy Bloch, an expert from the Department of Criminal Justice’s Missing and Exploited Children’s Clearinghouse.

Other presenters included Grades 9/10 Interim Principal Frank Barone, who travels the country lecturing on school bullying including cyberbullying, Grades 11/12 Principal Hakim Jones, High School Psychologist Rocky Persico and dean of students Bryan Wood.

The presentation drew praise from many of the attendees.

"Thanks so much for the internet safety and cyberbullying presentation this evening!  It was fabulous and I learned so much.  In addition, I have gained some resources to assist me in dealing with internet safety issues and monitoring my 6th grade son's computer usage," a parent wrote in a letter on Thursday.

Parents learned during the evening that cyberbullying is much more of a problem for female students than male students, with 50 percent of female students reporting in a national survey that they had been cyberbullied at school.

Bloch reported that predators continue to be a major issue, with one in seven children online receiving sexual solicitations and one in three having unwanted exposure to pictures of naked people or people having intercourse. To put those ratios in perspective, Bloch said there are 1 billion children worldwide with internet access.

She and the other presenters also reported that despite all of the warnings, children are still revealing too much about themselves online and predators are still prowling.

During one recent training session, Bloch said she was with a deputy at Tamarac High School who pretended to be a 13-year-old girl in a Capital Region chat room. Within 20 minutes, a male from Schenectady was soliciting sex from the girl.

Presenters offered a series of tips and provided numerous handouts with information on where to get online programs and how to set parental controls on computers to protect children.

A future edition of the Chalkboard will contain some of that information.