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Cybersmart Detectives is an innovative online game that teaches children key internet safety messages in a safe environment. Children work online in real time liaising with community professionals to solve an internet-themed problem. The activity is based in the school environment, and brings together a number of agencies with an interest in promoting online safety for young people, including State and Federal Police, internet industry representatives and child welfare advocates. In the scenario, children play the role of a school Deputy Principal concerned about the welfare of a new student, who may be being bullied by someone they have met in an internet chat room. Guided by a series of clues, children work collaboratively in teams to solve the mystery of what is worrying the student, and why. 'Cybersmart Guides' respond to the questions and theories posed by the students, and guide the teams through each of the 'clues'. As the scenario unfolds, the children discuss the risks of certain online and offline behaviours, and ways of managing those risks. Although the scenario presented in the activity is simulated, the sense of urgency that excites a class of children taking part is very real. By the end of the activity children will have learned some valuable lessons about some of the risks associated with internet use, especially useful tips for chatting safely online. More importantly, the issues that lie behind the story will have been discussed with professionals who deal with similar issues on a daily basis. Cybersmart Detectives was initially developed by UK-based child advocacy agency Childnet International, and until 2005, operated under the name of Net Detectives. The activity is now independently operated by E-ngagelive. The Australian Communications and Media Authority ( ACMA ), by agreement with E-ngagelive , has adapted the activity for use in Australian schools under the name Cybersmart Detectives.

Today's child has a digital footprint the size of bigfoot (especially compared to us) and their online life is just as important to them as their "real" life.  How do we keep our children safe in this brave new world?  By educating them how to make the right decisions online and by modeling appropriate behavior on the internet.  Yes that means we need to exist in the virtual world so we can see, hear, and participate in the main street of the 21st century.

Slightly less than half of Latinos surveyed have home computers, compared to rates of 79 percent and above among black, Asian and white Californians, the survey found. While computer usage by blacks and whites in California has increased, there's been a decline in computer usage by Latinos and Asians, though Asian use remains much higher than that of Latinos. The drop appears to be correlated with income, with a sharp divide in computer usage between those making less than $40,000 and those making more.

Only 48 percent of Latinos have home computers compared with 86 percent of whites, 84 percent of Asians and 79 percent of blacks Californians, the institute reported.

But Asians and Latinos have seen declines in use of computers. Latinos' computer use has declined from 64 percent to 58 percent since 2000, while Internet use remained unchanged. Asians' use of computers was much higher, but also declined from 91 percent to 81 percent; Internet use went from 84 percent to 80 percent. Only 48 percent of Latinos have home computers compared with 86 percent of whites, 84 percent of Asians and 79 percent of blacks Californians, the institute reported.

“This cyber-safety bill is a critical step toward protecting Kentuckians from the very real threats that come with 21st century innovations and toward helping to prevent further abuses of these technologies,” said Beshear. “Kentucky families will be safer because of this bill.”HB 315, which was authored by Conway and primarily sponsored by Bell, makes it a Class D felony to solicit a minor for sexual activity through electronic communication. Through this legislation it is unlawful to “cyberstalk,” which is defined as intentionally alarming, annoying, intimidating or harassing a person with no legitimate purpose through electronic communication. This bill also includes tougher regulations for sex offenders when they use electronic communication.

On her blog, 12-year-old Tavi Gevinson posts photos of herself wielding a toilet plunger, posing in a room covered with newsprint and wearing a paint-splattered tutu inspired by Dolce & Gabbana's spring 2008 collection. She's part of a young generation of fashion bloggers who display their outfits for all to see. "Well I am new here," she wrote March 31 in her first post at Style Rookie. "Lately I've been really interested in fashion, and I like to make binders and slideshows of 'high-fashion' modeling and designs."

A survey conducted by MSN United Kingdom found that 74% of teens as compared to 80% in this study did not go to anyone for advice when they were cyberbullied (www.msn.co.uk/cyberbullying, 2006). One reason some teenagers are reluctant to tell parents or adults is the fear of retaliation.

Many times parents don't get involved because they are afraid of invading their teen's privacy. Others may feel that as long as they have filtering software their teen is protected from negative material.

Parents need to be educated about cyberbullying- what it looks like, what the effects are and how to handle it. Rosalind Wiseman, educator and author of the best seller "Queen Bees & Wannabes", suggest parents consider the following: Use technology as an opportunity to reinforce your family values. Attach rules and consequences if inappropriate behavior occurs. Move the computer out of your child's bedroom and into the family room. Teach your child not to share passwords. Install monitoring and filtering software. Monitor your child's screen name(s) and Web sites for inappropriate content. If cyberbullying occurs, save and print out any evidence and decide whom you should contact for assistance.

he group held a three-day workshop on climate change Aug. 15-17 at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. Eighty students from as far away as New York and Japan are learning how to educate others about global warming and what they can do to fight it.

Inconvenient Youth is a network founded and driven by a team of four teenagers based in Menlo Park, Calif. Their goal is to mobilize young people to educate their communities about environmental science and solutions using a youth-focused version of "An Inconvenient Truth."

Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age

Attention is the golden key to the mystery of human consciousness; it might one day tell us how we make the world in our heads. Attention comes naturally to us; attending to what matters is how we survive and define ourselves.

Multitaskers fool themselves by rapidly switching attention and, as a result, their output deteriorates.

For the past two years Blumenthal and other states' attorneys general have negotiated with both Facebook and MySpace to implement more than 60 new safety measures to protect children from online predators and from gaining access to inappropriate content, like pornography.

Under the agreement with Facebook, its officials have agreed to prominently display safety tips, and to require users under the age of 18 to affirm that they have read the tips. Users over 18 can no longer search for under-18 users, and Facebook officials will automatically be notified when someone under 18 is in danger of providing personal information to an adult user.

Parents will also be provided with tools to remove a child's profile from the site. Inappro­priate images and content will be removed, and ads for age-restricted products, like alcohol and tobacco, will be limited to users old enough to purchase those items. Most significantly, Facebook agreed to diligently search for and remove profiles of registered sex offenders, and it will "in­crease efforts to remove groups for incest, pedophilia, cyber-bullying and other violations of the site's terms of service and expel from the site individual violators of those terms."