Judging by a casual count of raised hands from a group of about 30 fifth-grade J.G. Johnson Elementary students, a handful have their own cell phones. Most of them know more about computers than their parents do and almost all of them play video games online.

The hands were raised in response to questions posed by Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, who gave a presentation about safely using the Internet, cyber-bullying and safe and appropriate use of cell phones Monday morning to two groups of fifth graders.

"The thing you need to realize is that there are some bad people on the Internet," Masto told the first group. "And their ultimate goal is to meet you. And once they meet you, they could kidnap you."

Masto has been giving similar presentations to elementary and high school students since last year and has already visited several schools in Reno.

She was invited to give similar presentations to Nye County schools by the Nye County Juvenile Parole and Probation Department in conjunction with the Nye County School District.

"It's a preventative measure to keep kids safe when they're online," Pat Rios, truancy officer with the Parole and Probation Department said. "There is information that hasn't been made public that needs to get out there."

Rios added that often times juveniles are not even aware that some of their electronic actions can have very real legal consequences.

Masto's presentation, though only an hour long, was very thorough and covered several key aspects of Internet safety.

She first explained to the children that even entering seemingly innocuous search terms (such as DNA, Benjamin Franklin or X-Men) while researching for homework could lead them to an inappropriate Web site. When that happens, she told the students to exit the site and tell their parents.

Additionally, Masto emphasized to the students that they do not know who are they are speaking to online through Instant Messaging or while playing an online video game. She explained to them the practice of "grooming," or when predatory adults pretend to be kids online to befriend them.

"If a person says don't tell your parents that you're talking to them, that's a red flag," Masto explained.

Cyber-bullying, or when people use the Internet or cell phones to post vicious comments or humiliating photos of classmates or peers, was also discussed.

The attorney general gave several examples of cases of extreme cyber-bullying, including one in which the victim committed suicide and another in which the perpetrator, a teenage boy who sent a nude photo of his ex-girlfriend to everyone else's cell phones, was convicted of a felony and forced to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

She emphasized the legal, as well as emotional, consequences of using the Internet or a cell phone to harass or bully others.

"If you have this technology, you have to use it in a safe or reasonable manner," Masto stressed. "The worst part of it is, you can't take that back. It's out there forever."

The attorney general also briefly touched on "sexting," the practice of sending nude or pornographic pictures of someone to other people using cell phone or Internet cameras. The problem has become especially prevalent in high schools across the nation.

Often, the photo is taken and sent voluntarily to a boy or girlfriend while the couple is dating. A bad break-up, however, often leads one of the couple to use the photo as fodder for humiliating online postings or mass text messages. With access to tools like PhotoShop and YouTube, the results can be devastating for the victim.

In addition, Masto explained what information the students should and should not post on social networking sites such as MySpace or Facebook.

The students also watched several short videos showing stories of victims of cyber-bullying and Internet stalking.