Parents Get Their Feet Wet Surfing Internet

Sitting expectantly before computer screens at Kittridge Street Elementary School, about 25 parents--many for the first time--waited for their Web pages to download.

The potential and the allure were quickly apparent.

“I went to the movies and I went to Sea World all in 20 minutes,” said first-time Net surfer Priscilla Cabrera, mother of nine children, six of whom attend schools in Van Nuys. “You could spend all day doing this. It could really become time-consuming.”

The Internet awareness class is part of a Los Angeles County Office of Education initiative to increase parents’ understanding of the technology and media their kids use daily. The two other classes in the series deal with technology used in the school curriculum and media literacy.

Organized as the Valley Initiative for Technology and Learning Consortium, the program includes more than 100 schools from five Los Angeles Unified School District clusters in the San Fernando Valley.

Each cluster sends volunteers to the classes with the expectation they will pass on the knowledge to others at their school.

During the Internet session, parents learned how to connect with educational Web sites and received tips on supervising children’s use of the World Wide Web.

“The parents need to know the benefits and the dangers of the Net,” said Tony Alcala, a parent assistant for the class. “We need to know as much as everybody else, so our children can get involved with tech in a positive way.”

Once the dangers were explained, parents were able to learn and enjoy the class.

“It’s my first time on the Internet, and I’m just really enjoying the classes,” said Guadelupe Lazo, whose two children attend Plummer Elementary School in North Hills. “I hope I can take what I’ve learned back for the other parents at my school.”