What parents can do to save their children from objectionable stuff on the internet?

Is there really that much pornography (or other objectionable content) on the Internet? and how parents can save their children from pornography and other objectionable stuff is discussed at this post.

There is a vast amount of pornographic material easily available on the Internet. Although many pornographic sites demand credit cards for full access, there are lots of free sites and “sneak peeks” available online.

Trying to control porn in a global medium like the Internet is difficult at best. Most Internet pornography, while offensive and distasteful to many users, is not illegal.

A research study shows that the older the kids, the more likely they are to pay purposeful visits to pornography sites (the figures almost triple between Grade 7 and Grade 11 for boys). Teens are more prolific and diverse Internet users than younger kids – and they are less likely to be supervised – which means they have more opportunities to encounter this sort of content through their online activities.

To contextualize pornography, we have to recognize that today’s children and youth live in a highly sexualized media culture where the lines between pornography and popular entertainment have become increasingly blurred.

Perhaps more importantly for most parents, is the reality that frequent unintentional exposure to pornographic sites is unavoidable. Once again, making sure your children know how to handle this is crucial.

A recent British study determined that the average teen there spent 87 hours/year, looking at porn on the Internet. That's an hour and 40 minutes a week.

What should parents do?

• Banning all access to the Internet is one solution. Unfortunately, this draconian approach carries with it a huge educational disadvantage; the Internet today is the greatest single educational reference resource available. More information, from more sources, is available here than in any library in the world.
• Personally supervising all Internet access is another solution. This is great, if you have the time.
• Installing a software filter, to provide a technology fix, is another possiblity.
• Block pop-ups, which are commonly used by pornographic sites.
• Set up the computer in a busy area of your home – never in a child’s bedroom.
• Use kid-friendly search engines and Web browsers or adult search engines that provide filtering options like Google. Test the different search engines to see which ones give the best results.
• Talk to librarians or teachers and create a directory of good kids’ sites by bookmarking them on your computer. But be aware that porn distributors often purchase expired domain names, including those of kids’ sites.
• At a minimum, make sure your children know your feelings about it, and what your expectations are for their behavior.

Source: 'Super Kids'

Useful links and resources:

* Exposure to pornography

* Internet porn stats: should parents be concerned?

* 'Safe Families.org' helping you keep children safe online.

* PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM PORNOGRAPHY AND SEXUAL PREDATORS ON THE INTERNET

Safe internet use for your child

Internet is a world of interactive and informative sites but it is our responsibility to teach our child 'safe use of internet'. These tips would help the parents and teachers for the safe and wise use of internet.

1. Be aware and involved. It's up to us to teach kids how to use the Internet — and all media — safely and responsibly. Just as we teach them how to eat properly and drive safely, we must teach them how to be safe, responsible and respectful on the Internet.

2. Do your homework. Check out sites, investigate ratings, explore safety and privacy tools, and parental control features. Don't be intimidated by the Internet.

3. Talk to your kids. Ask them questions about where they're going online and who their buddies are.

4. Teach safety. Make sure your kids know how to avoid dangers. No party postings, no personal information, no meeting strangers — ever.

5. Set rules. Time limits, place limits, codes of conduct. Try to keep computers with Internet access in a central room in your house if younger kids are online.

6. Report suspicious activity to your Internet service provider or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

7. Help kids view online information with a critical eye. Not everything that appears on the Web is true. Teach them to be savvy consumers of Internet information.

8. View your own online habits with a critical eye. Our kids watch everything we do.
If you don't want your kid doing what you're doing online you might want to think twice about your own habits.

9. Embrace their world. Download music, IM your kids, play an online game, visit MySpace. Not only will your kids appreciate it, you'll know what you're dealing with!
Remember, the Internet is here to stay. It's our job to help our kids be Internet safe and Internet smart.

By: Common Sense Media

Get Online Protection With Internet Filtering Software

I am happy to share this information to all parents who want to protect their children from offensive online content. We need to look for the stuff which could help us regarding safe use of internet.

I am personally using this software from the day I realized that my son has started using search engine for online free video games. And I am aware that these kind of sites are also not safe. So the best solution was to install filtering web protection software which could help me in this regard. The first benefit I found was that if you install it on your computer then nobody can browse offensive sites, as it protects your computer from inappropriate content and contact.

Sometimes I can't check the history of internet browsing, if I am not at home, but this software offers me full control over searching histroy. I was not sure if the software I am going to use is a free trial or a full version unless I install it. It is totally FREE for personal use.

More about the software

Blue Coat Systems offers the software "K9 Web Protection" which is an internet filtering software.

This software requires an administrator password. No one can uninstall it or change settings unless they know this password. With this software you can view internet activity. This page gives you an overview of the internet activity of everyone who uses the computer. With this you are able to see the category summary of what categories have been accessed and what categories have been blocked and why. This page also shows when K9 has been updated and if there has been any failed attempts to login to the system.

On the Setup Page you decide what kind of protection level you desire.
Protection levels include high, default, moderate, minimal, monitor, and custom.

- High protects against all default-level categories plus chat, newsgroups, and un-rated sites. Default protects against all adult content, security threats, illegal activity, sexually-related sites, and online community sites.
- Moderate protects against all adult content, security threats, and illegal activity. Minimal protects against pornography and security threats. Monitor allows all categories and only logs traffic.
- Custom is used when you want to select you own set of categories to block. There are numerous categories to choose from and I found the list to be helpful and complete when choosing what to allow on my family computer.

To use this software you will need a license key. Simply fill in the blanks on the page given here and they'll email it to you.

Get K9 Web Protection

"Family Web Watch" - helping your learn safe use of internet

As internet use is increased in last few years and number of people having access to internet is increasing very rapidly. Internet is a source of knowledge and learning, but at other side, we and our families are at risk. I try to bookmark all the sites or blogs, which provide any kind of internet safety guides or posts. As a parent and then an educator I can understand that we have to save ourselves from dangers of internet.

Family web watch is one of the blogs which parents can trust, because these kind of sites provide safe online surfing tips and resources.

You’ll find reviews about products and services that can help you reduce your risk to online threats. Other reviews involve sites that parents should watch out for to know where their child should and should not participate. I also post things that I think are safe, fun, and educational.

Ken Cooper, the author of this blog is an enthusiast of "protecting families in an online world". There are not many posts at the blog, as it is relatively new, but you can subscribe to the blog, to get fresh posting news at your inbox.

Blog is very useful as well as interesting for parents, kids and children, because there are many links, advice and tips for everyone.


More sites and posts about internet safety:

* Kids Konnect"- A safe internet gateway for kids!

* The world’s largest Internet Safety site “Wired Kids”

* Sites and links providing help for safe internet use!

* Useful links for online safety !

The world’s largest Internet Safety site “Wired Kids”

It is very difficult to search at the net for safe sites, because even parents and teachers need some guideline, to look for safe and entertaining, educational sites. "Wired Kids.org" can be a great help for parents, educators and children, because it provides links to safe and entertaining sites from all over the net.

Wired Kids, Inc is a U.S. charity dedicated to protecting all Internet users, especially children, from cybercrime and abuse. It operates several programs and Web sites designed to help everyone learn how to protect their privacy and security online and to teach responsible Internet use.

WiredKids: The Ultimate Online Safety Project Dedicated to Kids, Tweens & Teens

The Internet really is presenting parents with the opportunity for "quality time for the new millennium. The Internet is a wondrous tool. It exposes our children to new idea's, cultures and people. But, it also exposes them to dangers.In this section you will learn everything you need to now give your kids "Net Smarts".
Safety Information for Parents

There are six types of risks our children face online:
1. They can access information that might be inappropriate for them. This includes pornography, hate, intolerance, bigotry, gore, violence, hoaxes, and misinformation and hype.
2. They can access information, do things, and purchase products that might be dangerous to them. There are sites that offer bomb-building recipes, sites that sell guns, alcohol, poisons, tobacco products and drugs, and sites that offer gambling online.
3. They can be stalked and harassed by people (often other children) who are rude, insulting, and make threats, or may send them viruses or hack their computers.
4. They can give up important and private information by filling out forms and entering contests online, and, as a result, be targeted by irresponsible marketers using unfair marketing techniques.
5. They can be scammed or defrauded when they buy things online, and risk disclosing our important financial information to others, like credit card and pin numbers and passwords.
6. They can be lured by cyber predators who want to meet them face-to-face.

Parents need to deal with the fact that your children might be intentionally accessing inappropriate sites, doing dangerous things, and putting themselves at risk. That's the nature of children. (It's especially the nature of teenagers!)

To know more and download "parenting online guide book":
Click here

For Teachers:
Educators section

Search engines where you can search for childrens sites, suggested by "Wired KIds.org:
Search engines

Site link:
WiredKids: The Ultimate Online Safety Project Dedicated to Kids, Tweens & Teens

"Kids Konnect"- A safe internet gateway for kids!

This is a free to use edutainment site, which was first created to fulfill the requirements of a model technology school in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. But later when this site went upto the internet, it was decided to make this site available free worldwide.

Kids Konnect.com

An interactive and entertaining, educational site for kids from a retired teacher "Jan Belzer". She has an experience of 34 years in elementary school.
Kids Konnect.com was established in 1999.

Primary goal:
To find the best sites available and provide the students with the safest and most effective way of utilizing the Internet.

The main goal behind creating the site can be divided into 4 parts:

- Allowing children to safely and effectively utilize the Internet.
- Site covers the curriculm areas taught in school, so site is also helpful in studies.
- Lots of fun site links for kids to visit.
- Keeping the site free.

Target:

For teachers, students, and parents who utilize KidsKonnect at school and at home.

Achievement: Kids Konnect receives 280,000 unique visitors each month, with an average of 700,000 pages viewed monthly with 2 pages per visit. It has over 413 pages right now, adding more pages whenever needed.

A very impressive and informative report about internet safety from the Kids Konnect.com:

I have taken a part of the article which is about "important facts to think about"

1. In a study of 4 million children between the ages of 7 and 17 who use the Internet, 29% indicated they would give out their home address and 14% would give out their email address if asked (NOP Research Group, 2002).

2. 81% of parents of online teens say that teens aren’t careful enough when giving out information about themselves online and 79% of online teens agree with this (Pew Internet & American Life Project, March 17, 2005).

3. Approximately 89% of sexual solicitations of youth were made in either chat rooms or through Instant Messaging (Pew Study reported in JAMA, 2001).

4. 1 in 5 youth ages 10 to 17 received sexual solicitation or approach in last year (Online Victimization, NCMEC, June 2000).

5. “30% of teenage girls polled by the Girl Scout Research Institute said they had been sexually harassed in a chatroom. Only 7% told their parent because they were worried that their parents would ban them from going online” (Girl Scout Research Institute, 2002).

6. "86% of the girls polled said they could chat online without their parents’ knowledge, 57% could read their parents’ e-mail, and 54% could conduct a cyber relationship” (Girl Scout Research Institute, 2002).

7. Law enforcement officials estimate that as many as 50,000 sexual predators are online at any given moment (Dateline, 2006).

8. 42% of parents do not review the content of what their teenager(s) read and/or type in chat rooms or via instant messaging (The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and NetSmartz, June 2005).

9. 95% of parents didn’t recognize common chat room lingo that teenagers use to let people they’re chatting with know that their parents are watching. Those phrases are POS (parent over shoulder), P911 (parent alert), BRB (be right back), LOL (laughing out loud) and A/S/L (age/sex/location) (The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and NetSmartz, June 2005).

10. 30% of parents allow their teenagers to use the computer in private areas of the house such as a bedroom or a home office. Parents say they are more vigilant about where their teen(s) go online if the computer is in a public area of the household (NCMEC/ Cox5/24/05).

11. Nearly three out of 10 (28%) of parents don't know or are not sure if their teens talk to strangers online (NCMEC/ Cox5/24/05).

12. One-third of youth ages 8-18 have talked about meeting someone they have only met through the Internet (Polly Klaas Foundation, December 21, 2005).

To read full report:
Internet safety for kids and parents

Search at the site, taking time as there is a lot to discover. For example I searched for "stories online and the page came up with 68 site links.

I have searched through some links and providing the page link as well for easy browsing:

* Doorway to the internet providing you with very cool links to other kids sites.
* Online encyclopedia and reference guide
* Fun sites for kids
* Word games sites
* Primary Mathe sites
* Maths sites
* Phonics sites
* Quotables

Sites and links providing help for safe internet use!

Whenever I log on to "internet explorer" and start browsing, as a parent often this question strikes my mind "how can we save our new generation from bad sides of internet?". Because the Internet offers kids many opportunities for learning, constructive entertainment, and personal growth. At the same time,there are risks, kids face online. Our duty as a parent or teacher is to educate themselves and our children about how to use the Internet safely.

My son is only 8 years old, but I am really worried about him, when he would start browsing the internet. And being a teacher I think this is my duty to spread the knowledge to everyone who want to learn "safe internet use" and want to safe their children from misuse of internet. So this post is part of my articles providing you links and resources where you can get information about this topic.

* Microsoft is also concerned about this fact that some guidance is essential at family level. So go to this link:
This post is about social networking sites, which have become a hot trend among teens. Guidelines from Microsoft

* Another detailed guide provides you information about:
- Age-based guidelines for kids' Internet use

- Kids and gaming: Help kids play it safe

- Help kids deal with hateful content

Get it here: Parental supervision and age-based guidance

* Get Net Wise.org is a public service brought to you by a wide range of Internet industry corporations and public interest organizations. This site provides you safety tips for kids, teens, and families. You also get information about "Risks relating internet use, technology risks, and privacy informations.

- Online Safety Guide where you
learn about the risks kids face online, based on age levels or types of activities. Concerns about privacy are addressed as well. Also: Quick tips for kids, teens, and families.
- At Tools for family you can search or browse for Internet safety products, including those that filter explicit or violent content, monitor a child's Internet access, or limit time online. See sample contracts for kids' Internet use.

- At Web sites for kids you can check out links to great sites families can visit together! Explore educational or entertaining Web sites for kids, teens, and families.

- Reporting trouble section is where you learn how to identify online trouble and get law enforcement contact information. Find national child advocacy groups that can help you recognize and report online trouble.

More useful links and sites:

* Great web sites for kids

* More internet safety sites

* A discussion board where you can get in touch with the like minded people who are also concerned about safe internet use.

- Connect Safely forum

* Few more links: Click here

Review: SafeKids.com helping you makes the internet safe for you!

Many days ago, a parent asked me that she wanted to have internet access at home, but feared that her teenage son might misuse it. At that time I was not sure about if there are sites to help parents helping the parents and teens for safe internet use. But I was happy to get link to many sites, which provide sufficient stuff for safe use of internet.

When creating this blog, this topic came first in my mind that I would be reviewing the site about “learning to use internet safely” ,SafeKids is the first site I am reviewing here. Where parents, teachers and teenagers can learn how to use internet safely.




SafeKids provides you information about the dangers of children using the internet. Rules, advice, and tips relating to child security and the web. This site can be considered family guide which helps us in making the internet and technology safe and productive.

* Tips and tools section contains the topics:
* Child Safety on the Information Highway
* Video & Audio Slide Shows
* Kids Rules for Online Safety
* Safe Blogging Tips for Teens
* Guidelines for Parents
* Family Contract for Online Safety
* Chat Room Safety
* Think Safety When Posting Online Video
* Privacy Issues

Every topic takes you to another article window where it is discussed in detail.
This part of the site provides you new articles update.
I want to write tips from one of the article. I have chosen this article, because I know a lot of teens are taking interest in having an online diary (blog) which is very easy to create.
Safe Blogging Tips for Teens:
• Be as anonymous as possible. Avoid postings that could enable a stranger to locate you. That includes your last name, the name of your school, sports teams, the town you live in, and where you hang out.
• Protect your info. Check to see if your service has a “friends” list that allows you to control who can visit your profile or blog. If so, allow only people you know and trust. If you don’t use privacy features, anyone can see your info, including people with bad intentions.
• Avoid in-person meetings. Don’t get together with someone you “meet” in a profile or blog unless you are certain of their actual identity. Although it’s still not risk-free, if you do meet the person, arrange the meeting in a public place and bring some friends along.
• Photos: Think before posting. What’s uploaded to the Net can be downloaded by anyone and passed around or posted online pretty much forever. Avoid posting photos that allow people to identify you (for example, when they’re searching for your high school), especially sexually suggestive images. Before uploading a photo, think about how you’d feel if it were seen by a parent/grandparent, college admissions counselor, or future employer.
• Check comments regularly. If you allow them on your profile or blog, check them often. Don’t respond to mean or embarrassing comments. Delete them and, if possible, block offensive people from commenting further.
• Be honest about your age. Membership rules are there to protect people. If you are too young to sign up, do not attempt to lie about your age. Talk with your parents about alternative sites that may be appropriate for you.
Source link: Safe Blogging Tips for Teens

Useful links for online safety !

According to an estimate as low as 2% of the world population regularly accesses the internet. And as Internet World Stats says that according to September 30, 2007 stats, 1,244 billion poeple use the internet. Mostly internet is used for many purposes. People use chat, messaging and email to make and stay in touch with friends worldwide, sometimes in the same way as some previously had pen pals. Social networking Web sites like Myspace and Facebook many others like them also put and keep people in contact for their enjoyment. Many use the World Wide Web to access news, weather and sports reports, to plan and book holidays and to find out more about their random ideas and casual interests. Many use the Internet to access and download music, movies and other works for their enjoyment and relaxation.

To know more about internet, chech the Wikipedia page.

But how to use intenet safely?

There are many sources and links which provide information about safe internet use. Like as:

1- Cyber Law Enforcement.org is a network of law enforcement officers, who specialize in cybercrime investigation, training other law enforcement officers and who assist cybercrime victims online.

Their tipline handles child pornography, cyberstalking and missing children tips, as well as tips for cyberscams and fraud online.

The Cyber Law Enforcement Organization also includes the Legal Eagles group of prosecutors, defense counsel and legal experts in the field of cybercrime, to help educate and guide the Internet community on crime prevention and reporting of cybercrimes.

Mission: The Cyberlaw Enforcement Organization (CLEO) has four main goals:
To unite police officers worldwide and educate them on cybercrime, cyberlaw, investigative techniques and how they interact.
To provide investigative assistance to police departments when requested.
To provide online help and education for victims of cyberstalking, cyberharassment, pedophiles, hacking, and virus attacks, as well as access to support groups and online counseling.
To standardize relations and communications between police departments, Internet Service Providers , Legal system contacts and victim advocacy groups worldwide.

2- INHOPE represents Internet Hotlines all over the world, supporting them in their aim to respond to reports of illegal content to make the Internet safer.

Mission: The mission of the INHOPE Association is to support and enhance the perfomance of Internet Hotlines around the World, ensuring swift action is taken in responding to reports of illegal content making the internet a safer place.

Goals
* To establish and support effective national hotlines.
* To train and support new hotlines
* To foster ongoing Internet safety awareness and education throughout Europe
* The establishment of effective common procedures for receiving and processing reports

INHOPE says: Recent studies have estimated that almost two thirds of content on the Internet is user generated through blogs, discussion forums, newsgroups etc. Some of these sites may contain content that could be harmful for children such as promotion of suicide, bulimia or anorexia. Like any other public place, parents and guardians can take steps to protect children on the Internet and the following tips offer a good starting point.
Tips for online safety:

- Keep your computer in a family room, not in a bedroom, that way you can supervise its use.
- Interact with your child while they are on the Internet - expressing an interest can be both informative and reassuring.
- Encourage children to show you anything that makes them uncomfortable.
- Ask your ISP about how special filtering programs that can be used to help protect your child.
- Use your children’s expertise and learn from them.
Report link: Protecting Children Online


3- Insafe is a network of national nodes that coordinate Internet safety awareness in Europe.
Mission: The mission of the Insafe cooperation network is to empower citizens to use the internet, as well as other online technologies, positively, safely and effectively. The network calls for shared responsibility for the protection of the rights and needs of citizens, in particular children and youths, by government, educators, parents, media, industry and all other relevant actors. Insafe partners work closely together to share best practice, information and resources. The network interacts with industry, schools and families in the aim of empowering people to bridge the digital divide between home and school and between generations.

Insafe partners monitor and address emerging trends, while seeking to reinforce the image of the web as a place to learn. They endeavour to raise awareness about reporting harmful or illegal content and services. Through close cooperation between partners and other actors, Insafe aims to raise Internet safety-awareness standards and support the development of information literacy for all.

Internet helplines: in many countries Insafe nodes cooperate with national helplines to respond to the questions and concerns of young people linked to their experiences online or the harmful or illegal online content they encounter. To find out if there is an internet helpline in your country visit the relevant section of the Insafe portal http://www.saferinternet.org/ww/en/pub/insafe/focus.htm

Check the frequently asked question page where you will find information which will raise awareness of some of the risks that can be associated with these types of communication. However, despite the risks it is also important to recognise the benefits that exist for young people using these technologies too and this is highlighted in the FAQs. Research has shown that young people feel empowered when using online technologies and the “anonymous” nature of the communication can often mean that they lose their inhibitions and engage in risky activities that they would not even consider in the offline world. The information contained within these pages will help parents, carers and teachers to engage in a more meaningful dialogue with young people to overcome these issues.
FAQS page
-Check the links at FAQ page, for example "Blog" link provides you all necessary information if you are planning to create blog.



4- ConnectSafely.org is a project of Tech Parenting Group, a nonprofit organization based in Palo Alto, Calif., and Salt Lake City, Utah.
Connect Safely.org is a forum, where parents, teens, educators, and experts discuss and learn about safe blogging and social networking.

The forum is designed to give teens and parents a voice in the public discussion about youth online safety begun back in the '90s.
In addition, the site has tips for teens and parents, as well as other resources for safe blogging and social networking.

Useful pages at the site:
* Safety tips and advice
* Useful links to other sites
* Download section of useful internet safety tips

5-
Cyber tip line.com is a site helping you and your teens from internet dangers.
Their advice for parents and parents and guardians:
"If you’re a parent or guardian, talk to your children about “the Net.” If you need to learn more, ask your kids. You’ll learn from each other - if not about the Internet, then about life in general, how to make good decisions, and how to look at information critically.
If you’re the parent or guardian of a teenager, you may feel teens don’t need the same restrictions and controls as younger kids. You may be right, but just because they’re older doesn’t mean they’re out of danger. Teenagers are actually more likely to get into trouble online than younger children. Teens are more likely to explore; they’re more likely to reach out to others besides their peers; and, sadly, they’re more often preyed upon as victims by child molesters and other exploiters."
Check the pages:
- Know the dangers
- Sharing and posting personal information online
- Situations to avoid
- Surf Sagfer

5- WiredSafety.org is the world's largest Internet safety and help group, whic helps victims of cyberabuse ranging from online fraud, cyberstalking and child safety, to hacking and malicious code attacks. It also helps parents with issues, such as MySpace and cyberbullying.

More about the site:

Originating in 1995 as a group of volunteers rating websites, it now provides one-to-one help, extensive information, and education to cyberspace users of all ages on a myriad of Internet and interactive technology safety issues. These services are offered through a worldwide organization comprised entirely of volunteers who administer specialized websites and programs. WiredSafety.org volunteers range in age from 18 to 80 and run the gamut from TV personalities, teachers, law enforcement officers, PhD's, writers and librarians to stay-at-home moms, retired persons, and students. WiredSafety.org’s founder and Executive Director, cyberlawyer Parry Aftab, is also an unpaid volunteer. With the exception of its TeenAngels, outreach, law enforcement training and speaking programs, all work and help is provided online and free of charge.

WiredSafety.org provides:

- Assistance for online victims of cybercrime and harassment
- Advice, Training and Help for law enforcement worldwide on preventing, spotting and investigating cybercrimes
- Education for children, parents, communities, law enforcement, and educators
- Information and Awareness on all aspects of online safety, privacy, responsible use and security.
Those who can benefit from WiredSaftey.org’s expertise include:

Parents, grandparents and caregivers;
Kids, preteens, teens and college students;
Members of the Internet and interactive technology industries;
Law enforcement, legislators, the judicial community and regulatory agencies; and
Schools and other educational institutions
Link page: Overview

* Parents page helps parents to understand the greatest risks their children face online. Download the "Parenting Online" PDF book and many useful articles.
Educators need to understand that the internet is essential to our children's education, future careers and lives, but side to side there are many risks our children face online.
This page also includes links to some useful posts.
*Kids, tweens and teens page offers special information designed to teach younger Internet users how to surf safely and how to have fun doing it.


6- NetSmartz411 is parents' and guardians' premier, online resource for answering questions about Internet safety, computers, and the Web.
Parents, guardians, grandparents, stepparents, teachers, and concerned friends are welcome to use NetSmartz411 to better understand the opportunities and challenges children face online. NetSmartz411 is provided at no cost to the public by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
NetSmartz411 suggests NetSmartzkids.
Net Smartz Kids is an interactive, educational safety resource from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® (NCMEC) and Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) for children aged 5 to 17, parents, guardians, educators, and law enforcement that uses age-appropriate, 3-D activities to teach children how to stay safer on the Internet.

The goal of the NetSmartz Workshop is to extend the safety awareness of children to prevent victimization and increase self-confidence whenever they go online.
These goals include to:

- enhance the ability of children to recognize dangers on the Internet
- enhance the ability of children to understand that people they first "meet" on the Internet should never be considered their friend
- encourage children to report victimization to a trusted adult
- support and enhance community education efforts
- increase communication between adults and children about online safety


Katiesplace.org: for Young Victims of Internet Sexual Exploitation

7- Katiesplace.org is a special program of WiredSafety.org, designed by and for young victims of Internet sexual exploitation. But Katiesplace.org is not only for victims, it is also for those who love and care about them, such as their family members, friends and loved ones.

Schools online page gives you useful information and guidelines to use internet in schools.

8- Teenangles is a group of 13-18 year-old volunteers that have been specially trained by the local law enforcement, and many other leading safety experts in all aspects of online safety, privacy, and security.
After completion of the required training, the Teenangels run unique programs in schools to spread the word about responsible and safe surfing to other teens and younger kids, parents, and teachers.
Teenangels was founded in 1999 by leading cyberlawyer Parry Aftab, Executive Director of WiredSafety.org

Safety tips are from the mouths of teens:

Thoughts for Parents, Teens & Kids from the Teenangels

"Parents... Don't be afraid of the Internet. It's an extremely useful tool & can't be dismissed because it is new & sometimes confusing. The Internet can be an excellent way for you & your children to bond & share a common interest. Be open with your kids & get involved. Most of all, learn all that you can about being safe, keeping your child safe, & taking advantage of the Internet's myriad uses. Tell your children not to be afraid to come to you with problems of any kind.

Teenagers...Although the Internet is a great way to meet new people, do research, and chat with friends, there are dangers. Be aware of these dangers. Always use common sense. Although you may think that bad things won't happen to you, they most certainly can. Be open with your parents about what you do online. Don't meet people offline that you met online! Make sure a site is secure and trustworthy before giving in your personal information. Obey the law and don't steal music, motion pictures and software! Balance the time you spend online and offline. Remember your friends in real life and don't take them for granted. Go outside & enjoy life beyond cyberspace."

Kids... While it's great to chat with people in kid-safe chat rooms online, you should spend time with friends in real life. School, family, & friends should always come before the Internet. Always tell your parents about what you do online. Let them sit with you, & teach them about the Internet. When they do sit with you, don't get mad at them. Just know they care about you & don't want to see you hurt in any way. Always remember that people online don't always tell the truth. Don't give out a lot of information about yourself. If anything bad ever happens to you on the Internet, always tell your parents or someone you trust. Always remember that it's never your fault.

Net bullies helps us to avoid being bullied online.

More pages to check:
- For schools
- For Parents
- Why kids bully each other online
- Prevetion


Few posts relating to this topic:

* The impact of internet on our society

* Keep your kids protected online