Safety programs available

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PRINCETON — Freedom House and Princeton Public Library have partnered together to bring a series of three programs to the public on violence and the media, Internet safety and bullying.

The programs will be presented, free of charge, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on three Mondays in July at the meeting room of the Princeton Public Library, located at 698 E. Peru St.

Cathleen Wizgird, a domestic advocate for Freedom House, designed the programs and will present them at the Monday meetings.

“We do a lot of programs with schools and now we are trying to reach out to adults,” Wizgird said Thursday. “We’ve all been affected in some way by these things. We want to bring awareness to these subjects, to give people some strategies for handling these situations and to present some resources for them.”

Laurie Bonucci, president of the Princeton Public Library Board, said the board is very pleased to partner with Freedom House to present this needed kind of information to the public.

“The library is a safe, neutral place where we hope people feel comfortable coming for information,” Bonucci said Thursday.

The first program, scheduled for Monday, is titled “Violence and the Media”. With child safety in mind, the program will deal with the effects of an over-consumption of media violence and the relationship between profit motive and corporate entertainment decision-making. Monday’s program is only for people 18 years of age and older, Wizgird said.

Handouts will be given at each meeting. Wizgird said she wants to have an open roundtable discussion setting in which people can express their thoughts and concerns.

On July 14, the program will deal with Internet safety. This program will give parents steps to follow to keep themselves and their children safe when using the Internet, Wizgird said. Some of the topics will include password protection, identity theft, protection of personal information, spam, viruses, chat rooms and social network sites.

On July 21, Wizgird will present a program on bullying. Attendees will learn to recognize bullying behaviors, the effects of bullying upon children and positive coping strategies. She will also talk about bullying in the workplace. Most everyone knows someone who has been bullied, is currently being bullied or is a bully, Wizgird said.

Each of the Monday sessions will last 60 to 90 minutes. Pre-registrations are not needed. People may attend one, two or all three sessions.

For more information on these programs, call the library at (815) 875-1331.

Wizgird can be reached at Freedom House, (815) 872-0087, for further information or training requests.

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