300 Los Angeles-area students visited Universal Studios to hang out with some Minions and gain first-hand online safety advice.

Okay, so the kids really wanted to have their pictures taken with the Minions. But there was also a lot of learning going on at the “Connected Kids: Lessons in Cybersecurity for Students, Parents and Teachers,” event at The Globe Theatre at Universal Studios Hollywood.

In honor of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Comcast NBCUniversal, the National Cybersecurity Alliance, and CreativeFuture brought 300 Los Angeles County students from Mckinna, Superior, and Toluca Lake Elementary Schools to the Universal lot to gain online safety advice from local and national experts.

David Rosenbaum, production manager at Illumination Entertainment (Despicable Me and Minions), showed the kids the four stages that need to take place from storyboard drawing to layout, animation, and final lighting. He asked for a show of hands indicating how many in the audience spent time doodling. After a group of hands shot up, he said: “If you like to doodle and are still at it in 15 years, come and see me. I may have a job for you in animation.”

Throughout the day, students participated in a range of interactive sessions and learned best practices from security experts on topics including respecting others online, protecting personal information, and the proper use of media, software, and games. Among the advice for kids and parents was to routinely change passwords, keep devices’ operating systems and security software updated, and only download legal content and apps.

Oh, to be in elementary school again.

Here are some pictures from the event:

Post by CreativeFuture

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