The PTA (Parent Teacher Association) of the US is joining forces with Facebook to teach schools. parents and children about online safety.

Together, the National PTA and Facebook will work together to develop a program that will offer information and support about such issues as cyberbullying, good online citizenship and internet security.

Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt  commented that the plan is not just to educate kids about being on Facebook, but about being online. “The sooner we can get instilling responsible behavior, the better.”

The PTA will reach out to local parent-teacher groups to promote the program, while Facebook plans to do the same on its site.

Anne Collier, co-director of Connectsafely.org, a forum about online safety issues, said the deal combining Facebook’s broad reach and the PTA’s relationship with schools and parents “makes a lot of sense. Citizenship online and offline needs to be a part of the child’s life,” she said. “It needs to be taught at school and at home — it’s not just a digital thing.”

Access the PTA’s official press release about the partnership here: http://www.pwrnewmedia.com/2010/pta_00610/index.html