Posted by Richard Kuhlenschmidt
Wed, 23 Aug 2006 00:19:40 GMT
A major new initiative has been launched which is focused on disseminating information about internet safety.
StaySafe.org is a joint initiative between partners in government, non-government and Microsoft designed to raise consumers’ awareness of computing security and Internet Safety so they can help better protect their PC’s, their information and their families.
Partners include The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), The Department of Commerce, AARP, The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, i-SAFE America, RSVP, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, GetNetWise/Internet Education Foundation, National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), Microsoft Corp. and Best-Buy/Geek Squad.
Wow, that is quite an impressive list!
They are planning national GetSafeNet tour with upcoming visits to Dallas, Chicago, Detroit, New York City, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Los Angeles, Seattle and Orlando.
Check out their web site for more information.
Posted in Internet Safety | no comments | no trackbacks
Posted by Richard Kuhlenschmidt
Wed, 28 Jun 2006 00:31:00 GMT
Sorry for not posting in the past few days, but it took me some time to recover from the long hot drive back from Phoenix. It’s great to be back on the coast.
I found some more interesting booths at the National PTA conference.
ScreenOut! is a project of the American Heart Association, American Legacy Foundation and the American Medical Association, and is dedicated to getting tobacco out of Hollywood movies.
According to their site, Hollywood movies are now the primary recruiter of new young smokers in the United States. Getting the tobacco out of youth-rated movies — voluntarily, without government involvement — is the single easiest, cheapest, most effective thing we can do to extend the lives of this generation.
If you are ready for action, visit their web site.
i-SAFE is dedicated to educating and empowering the youth of America to safely and responsibly take control of their online experiences.
Supported by a grant from the U.S. Justice Department, i-SAFE’s goal is to educate students on how to avoid dangerous, inappropriate, or unlawful online behavior. i-SAFE accomplishes this through dynamic K-12 curriculum and community outreach programs to parents, law enforcement, and community leaders.
There are a lot of good resources on their site.
Posted in Internet Safety, Parenting, Setting Limits | no comments | no trackbacks
Posted by Richard Kuhlenschmidt
Thu, 01 Jun 2006 18:34:00 GMT
In today’s issue of the Wall Street Journal there is an article by Sue Shellenber called “Remote Control: Parents use Software to Track Kid’s Online Activity from Work” (subscription req’d).
The article states that more and more working parents have very major concerns about their children’s internet usage while parents are at work. Many have turned to using software programs that allow them to monitor their kid’s internet usage from the office.
The following software programs are mentioned in the article:
SafeEyes ($49.95) reports instant messaging chats. Web use and file-sharing, with alerts via phone or e-mail.
eBlaster ($99.95) e-mailos copies of chats; reports Web use with e-mail alerts.
ContentProtect ($39.99) reports text of IMs and tracks Web activity; e-mails alerts.
IM Einstein ($40.00.)records IMs and chats, with alerts via e-mail, phone or pager.
Cybersieve ($39.95)online logs of Web use with notice of forbidden activity.
What makes these programs different from older monitoring programs that have been around for years, is that they allow monitoring from a remote computer. And there is no software to be installed on the monitoring (parent’s office) computer.
One area of debate is whether parents should tell their children that they are monitoring their internet activity. On the one hand, if you keep it secret, you may find out some things that you wouldn’t otherwise. On the other hand, some argue that doing secret surveillance could result in a breakdown in trust.
I’m more inclined to believe in the latter, that internet usage should be treated in the same manner in which you monitor TV and movie habits.
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