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Tech companies are releasing new software products that monitor and police kids' Internet use, helping them avoid cyberbullying and letting parents know when it's occurring.

U.S. moms and dads estimate that their children spend only two hours a month on the internet, but kids say they actually spend 10 times more time - or 20 hours - according to a recent study, the first Norton Online Living Report by Symantec (via Marketing Charts). 41% of respondents age 13-17 say their parents have no idea what they do online, and only 33% of parents worldwide say they set parental controls and monitor their children's online activities.

Symantec is developing a Web-based service that will let parents control almost all aspects of their child's Internet activity from anywhere in the world.\n\nThe rising use of instant-messaging programs and social-networking sites by children has posed new challenges to parents seeking to prevent kids' access to inappropriate content or contact with creepy online adults. A demo seen by IDG on Friday showed the application gives parents sweeping control over their child's activity.

AOL has unveiled a new online safety education Web site, SafetyClicks.com, and introduced an improved version of its free, downloadable parental controls software (parentalcontrols.aol.com). To develop content, SafetyClicks.com worked closely with ConnectSafely.org, a non-profit safety organization. For organizations and Internet safety experts that have direct contact with parents, educators, kids and teens, AOL continues to build relationships with them to promote awareness of online safety. "Friends of SafetyClicks.com" includes organizations such as ConnectSafely, ESRB, Enough Is Enough, Family Online Safety Institute, GetNetWise, Internet Keep Safe Coalition, iSafe, LOOKBOTHWAYS, NetFamilyNews, NetSmartz411, ParentDish, WebWiseKids, WiredSafety, WorkingMother.

Now comes new details about the parental control system coming to the App Store. All iPhone applications will be rated in one of four age categories: 4+, 9+, 12+, or 17+. When Apple announced the coming 3.0 release of its iPhone software, it referred to parental controls for apps.

Symantec's new OnlineFamily.Norton (free until 2010) emphasizes communication over control. Symantec gathered an Advisory Board of experts in education, parenting, and online safety to oversee the product's direction. The results are impressive.

This is great information to distribute at your next PTA meeting! The MySpace folks put control back in the hands of parents with their new ParentCare Software, a free, simple software tool designed to help parents safeguard their teens. ParentCare helps parents determine whether a child has a MySpace profile and validates the age, user name, and location listed by the teen. Currently in beta form and available for Windows users only. Both MySpace and IKeepSafe provide links to the download. The IKeepSafe site provides an additional flash video explaining the software. It is located at: http://www.ikeepsafe.org/parentcare/index.php

New safety rules from Telestra aim to give parents a tool in the fight against cyber bullying, with many struggling to understand what they can do to protect their children.Families should learn how to report cyberbullying and to work on building trust about discussing online problems. The article gives five suggestions for how adults can become an internet parent:
Familiarize yourself - talk with your child about their use of the internet.
Explore - websites and technologies yourself.
Restrict inappropriate content and consider parental controls such as filtering.
Talk to your child and encourage open communication
Know - be aware of the potential dangers and know where to report potentially illegal or inappropriate behaviour online.

It would be wonderful if parents could simply purchase a set of "controls" that would instruct children in online safety and screen out dangers. While of course no piece of software can do all of this, parental controls combined with online safety education and some common sense rules for Internet use are a parent's best strategy for keeping children safe online.

Cox Communications commissioned Harris Interactive to conduct a survey among U.S. teens ages 13-18. Key objectives of this study were to: *Examine teen's online and cell phone behavior, specifically regarding: * Sending sexually suggestive text messages ore emails * Bullying others online or by text message *Understand the relationship between teens and their parents regarding parental controls for the Internet *Uncover how and why teens go online on their cell phone
Download the complete 60-page report.

The European Framework for Safer Mobile Use by Younger Teenagers and Children is a self-regulatory initiative of the mobile industry, which puts forward recommendations to ensure that younger teenagers and children can safely access content on their mobile phones. The recommendations are as follows: * Classification of commercial content - mobile operators' own and third-party commercial content should be classified in line with existing national standards of decency and appropriateness so as to identify content unsuitable for viewing by children and younger teenagers; * Access control mechanisms - appropriate means for parents for controlling children's access to this content should be provided; * Education and awareness-raising - mobile operators should work to raise awareness and provide advice to parents on safer use of mobile services, and ensure customers have ready access to mechanisms for reporting safety concerns; * Fighting illegal content on mobile community products and the Internet - mobile operators should work with law enforcement agencies, national authorities and INHOPE or equivalent bodies to combat illegal content on the Internet.

U.S. moms and dads estimate that their children spend only two hours a month on the internet, but kids say they actually spend 10 times more time - or 20 hours - according to a recent study, the first Norton Online Living Report by Symantec (via MarketingCharts). 41% of respondents age 13-17 say their parents have no idea what they do online, and only 33% of parents worldwide say they set parental controls and monitor their children's online activities.

The company will provide content blockers that allow parents to prevent their children from accessing certain content, application filters to keep children from using software and will empower parents with time limiting tools to control time spent on various Internet activities.

According to new research, more than half of parents cite inappropriate people such as strangers or child predators and content such as adult imagery or depicted violence as the biggest online threats they perceive to their children. But it found that only about a third of them know that there are parental control tools available that can help insulate kids from these perceived threats.

Note that this "research" was done by a company that sells security products so the questions about "biggest online threats" may have been slightly skewed.

Parental controls provide one or more of five main functions: content filtering; use restrictions; contact management; privacy protections; and monitoring. This guide provides helpful info for parents on controls for Internet, Mobile Phones, Gaming Consoles and Media Players.

An October 2010 study of the privacy habits of parents and their teens on social networks, conducted by TRUSTe, one of the foremost authorities on online privacy. Data suggests that the majority of teens use privacy controls on social networks and that most parents actively monitor their teen's privacy. However, there is still room for improvement a some privacy areas were identified where teens are at risk on social networks. There are some good videos on this site including parents and teens talking about privacy issues.

AT&T Smart Limits™ brings together information about parental control features across AT&T's wireless, wired, broadband and video service. Includes tools in four areas: Wireless Smart, Surf Smart, Watch Smart and Talk Smart.

This site is intended to assist K-12 school districts and other K-12 entities in developing their own Acceptable Use Policy for use of the K-20 Network. Since "local control" is a major tenet of K-12 education in Washington state, it is up to each district to determine what elements they wish to include in their own policy, and if they wish to include other elements not contained in the template that has been provided. Includes sample parent letters and permission forms, guidelines for Internet Safety Policies and sample board policies on Network use.

Members of an internet safety task force on July 8 suggested several ways to improve cyber safety for children, focusing on three key areas in particular: education before a child gets on the internet, control while the child is online, and having set procedures if problems arise. The task force, which included representatives from Verizon, Comcast, Cox, Google, Yahoo!, AOL, Symantec, Common Sense Media, the Internet Keep Safe Coalition (iKeepSafe), the National Parent-Teacher Association, Family Online Safety Institute, and the Children's Partnership, met for more than a year to develop its report and recommendations.