A pizza you didn't order shows up at your house. It could be a harmless mistake, or it could be something far more nefarious.

"Pizza bombing" is a term used to describe how cyber criminals subtly tell a child or teenager, "I know where you live." It's a cybersecurity threat most adults would miss, but it would no doubt terrorize a young person.

It's just one of the ever-changing ways criminals target young people online. Manheim Central School District wants to empower parents and caregivers to protect their families and stay up to date on online security.

Pennsylvania State Trooper James Grothey and the district's Safety Team will present a parent seminar, "Keeping Children Cybersafe," on Tuesday, Sept. 22. It will be held in the auditorium of Manheim Central Middle School, 261 White Oak Road, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Parents and caregivers of children of all ages are invited to attend.

"We want to increase awareness for parents and give them the skills for noticing and reporting something if there's a concern," said Amy Flannery, assistant superintendent and a member of the Safety Team. "Even if you think you've got it under control as a parent, the cyber world is changing so fast. We want to help everyone stay up to date."

Flannery heard Grothey speak at a regional safety meeting, and she approached him about presenting his program for the district.

Then she realized Grothey's advice and expertise could benefit people beyond the school administration, so she helped set up the September program, which is open to the public.

"One of the things that really stood out to me is he said parents might think they are in tune with what their child is doing online, or they may think they're doing the right thing," Flannery said. "You can think you're limiting screentime or you have all the chats turned off in various apps, but you'd be surprised at what you've missed."

She gave an example of the game Roblox, a gaming platform where users from all over the world can play millions of games created by other members of the community.

"What kids are doing in Roblox is they'll have their characters holding signs saying, 'Here's my phone number,' and parents don't know this is happening," she said. "I work in this field, and some of this information was things I hadn't heard of before. I can only imagine a typical parent wouldn't know this."

Manheim Central School District has had a Safety Team since 2019. It's composed of a school resource officer who is a Manheim Borough police officer, an armed security officer who is a retired policeman, the district facilities director, the tech director and Flannery.

While relatively new to the district, the team has established strong roots since its inception and works daily to keep children safe across a variety of mediums and environments.

"We are always looking to stay current in safety trends," Flannery said.

She emphasized that the seminar is for everyone - adults who are tech savvy and those who are not.

She hopes the program will help caregivers learn how to spot a problem before it becomes unmanageable and how to create open lines of communication with their children.

"The program will cover things to look for in your everyday life, conversations to have with your kids and questions to ask your children," she said. "We hope to give parents the skills for noticing when something may be a concern and the knowledge for how and where to report if they find something."

The seminar will also be available via Zoom for people who can't attend in person, although Flannery encourages in-person attendance so participants can fully engage in the conversation.

Child care will be provided as well, with preregistration required. To register for child care, visit https://tinyurl.com/MCSDcybersafe.

To participate in the program via Zoom, visit https://tinyurl.com/4wkj9vkb.