Iredell County Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Calabrese and six Peer Leaders kicked off the CyberSWAT peer-to-peer program at Lake Norman High School yesterday (February 16). Iredell County Sheriff’s Office is the first law enforcement agency in North Carolina to implement the program.

Over 60 students were in attendance at the Thursday meeting, along with seven Iredell County Deputies and K-9 Officer Rex. Various topics were discussed, snacks were served, and relationships were established. The group will continue to meet weekly and new members are encouraged to join. Plans call for the program to expand to other Iredell-Statesville schools soon.

CyberSWAT is intended to educate youth about online safety and help create a comfortable environment to have conversations about bullying, online predators, and other online risks. The program is designed to be taught by students to students. The group will act as a club, overseen by the School Resource Officer at the school, but led by the students. Deputies and the designers of the program believe young people learn better when spoken to and taught by their age-related peers.