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U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez is proposing a federal grant program to research and educate children about Internet safety. Menedez, D-N.J., said he is hopeful that educating teenagers, teachers and parents will stop children from sending explicit photos of themselves over cell phones and the Internet. The grant proposal would authorize $25 million to $35 million each year for Internet safety programs. The grants would be awarded on a two-year basis and administered by the Department of Justice.

High School's survey of student's technology habits, including cell phone usage

Flames of Moral Panic: You may have noticed that the media has fully embraced "sexting" [a term invented by the media] as the latest horror story about teens and technology. First it was about how the internet is teeming with predators a la "To Catch A Predator," with the most dramatic stories focusing on girls who met these predators in real life [read the real deal here: Online "Predators" And Their Victims]. Next it was about cyberbullying, highlighting the most extreme cases that ended in young people having to switch schools or even more tragically committing suicide. The latest is "sexting," where teens are naively sending and receiving sexually explicit photos or video of themselves to friends via cell phone, again, with the most dramatic cases highlighted.

The GET WISE ABOUT WIRELESS program helps educate students about cell phone use and the responsible behaviors associated with using cell phones. GET WISE ABOUT WIRELESS is designed to encourage educators and families to help their students practice proper cell phone etiquette and safety behaviors. It also seeks to serve as a catalyst for discussions at home among family members about using wireless technology in their day-to-day lives.

Produced in Canada, this new interactive program targets middle school students. Designed for school usage, it explores the social and ethical challenges of the cell phone era. In some locations, it is used as part of the DARE program. The story is set in the fictitious BRAINCELLS HIGH, which is in turmoil. After students begin carrying cell phones, a group of older boys start to steal phones from the younger students. Eddie is the leader of the gang and he forces a younger computer geek named Oliver to hack into the school computer and "adjust" his grades. The venture creates an uneasy bond between the two teenagers. Oliver uses his cell phone to commit the crime for Eddie and Eddie eases Oliver into the inner circle of teens at the high school. Finally, Oliver has to make a decision. Will he go to the police? The story is told through quizzes, animations, activities and games.

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.

It's no surprise that Elliot Soloway would be behind this idea, given his passionate interest in Palm handhelds as educational devices for the past decade.

Child safety experts, policymakers, leaders in the nonprofit sector and the wireless industry joined together on 4/22/09 at the Wireless Online Safety Conference, co-hosted by the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) and The Wireless Foundation, to discuss the challenges kids face in a mobile online environment and the vital role education plays in keeping them safe.

They came from pretty much every sector-nonprofits, government, wireless executives, and think tanks-to a day-long conference in Washington D.C. on how to respond to the panic du jour over kids, mobile phones, and sex

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen & Unplanned Pregnancy, a private nonprofit group whose mission is to protect children, and CosmoGirl.com, surveyed nearly 1,300 teens about sex and technology. The result: 1 in 5 teens say they've sexted even though the majority know it could be a crime.

Despite their convenience, cell phones can pose a threat to teens' safety - physically, mentally, and emotionally. When placed in the hands of an adolescent without being accompanied with several words of wisdom, cell phones have been the root cause of both physical harm and horrific embarrassment to the child. Parents should consider laying several ground rules about how and when the cell phone should be used

While in Las Vegas for the CTIA Conference in April, Stephen Balkam sat down with CBS Las Vegas to talk about online safety and recent cases of 'sexting' . Balkam is the founding CEO of the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI).

Short video clip from ACT AGAINST BULLYING with cell phone bullying prevention advice , as well as how to handle the text messaging bullying if it occurs.\n\n

An account of one girl's experience with sexting that eventually led to suicide when the long-term consequences did not abate.

This is really scary - spyware for cell phones. TV 13 Investigates and explains how your cell phone can be secretly hijacked and used against you - and tells you how to protect yourself.

Conference presentation on use of mobile phones in the classroom.

Spurred by the unlimited texting plans offered by carriers like AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless, American teenagers sent and received an average of 2,272 text messages per month in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the Nielsen Company - almost 80 messages a day, more than double the average of a year earlier.

Two Mason teens charged with sending and possessing nude photos on their cell phones were sentenced on May 11. Both 15-year-olds pled guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The boy was sentenced to 30 days house arrest and the girl was told to write a research paper for the court on the dangers of sexting -- both will have to perform 100 hours of community service and give up their phones for 30 days.

Chances are they're banned - to stop students texting their friends all the time, or worse still, cyber-bullying. But are schools missing a trick?