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We had a long way to go about precisely what`s required with the development of a home yet, as we began to get into the swing of things we understood that building a house is really a great deal like building a site. Give me a chance to clarify.

SecretBuilders is a virtual world for children 5 to 14 years old powered by a web 2.0 community of children, parents, educators, writers, artists and game developers. On SecretBuilders, kids explore virtual lands, undertake quests, play games, maintain a home, nurture a pet, and interact with their friends.

This WebQuest was designed for 5th - 8th grade students. It could be used as part of a technology class, home room, or social studies class. Cyberbullying is a growing issue in schools. By helping students research the issues around cyberbullying, the process alone it will raise awareness levels. Student recommendation from this WebQuest should be taken to the School Board. Students need to know that voice will be heard. Policy or handbook changes they recommend can actually be done.

Password security is a big deal, and if you don't think it is, then someone might be hacking into your computer even as you read this. A strong password isn't foolproof, but it proves that you're no fool. And it might protect you from compromised data, a broken computer or identity theft. Your bank account, your personal e-mails and lots of other stuff are at risk with weak passwords.

A Montclair school district is trying to protect its students from cyber bullies, even when they attack from home. CBS has learned how the school is cracking down and making the bullies the target.

Diane Hillas considers herself illiterate when it comes to technology, so she was surprised to hear her 12-year-old son's PlayStation Portable game console can be used to download Internet pornography. The 51-year-old Modesto mother of three was at a cyber safety seminar at Modesto's Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation on Saturday afternoon, and said she would check every portable communication device her family owns once she got home.

Welcome to Web Safety For Kids, a wiki setup to support presentations for parents about Internet safety. It contains links to a range of resources that parents may find helpful in a dealing with their children's use of the Internet at home.

As students across the country return to school, school districts face an often complicated and confusing legal landscape on how to deal with cyber bullies in their schools, according to Todd DeMitchell, EdD, a professor of education, who studies school liability, adequate supervision, and responses to preventing bullying and cyber bullying from school administrators and state legislatures.

From MySpace to Hip Hop, A MacArthur Forum, Part 2
This is the second of three videos, researchers who presented their work were: Mimi Ito, University of Southern California, Participatory Learning in a Networked Society:Lessons From the Digital Youth Project;danah boyd, University of California Berkeley, Teen Socialization Practices in Networked Publics; Heather Horst, University of California Berkeley, Understanding New Media in the Home; Dilan Mahendran, University of California Berkeley, Hip Hop Music and Meaning in the Digital Age.

While reports and stories in the media focusing on Internet predators have become all too frequent, the closer-to-home threat to our children may really be cyberbullying, also known as electronic or online bullying. A recent survey of 395 students (11 to 19 years old) found that 28% of students have been cyberbullied, and more than 1 in 7 admitted to acting as the bully."Cyberbullying could be the biggest online threat facing teens today," says James Leasure, co-founder of Pandora Corp. "Of course Internet predators do still exist, but statistically, kids have a much greater chance of being involved in some way with electronic bullying." Most cases of cyberbullying go undocumented because, fortunately, many kids are able to shrug off the 'unkind words' and look the other way. But there are some cases that make national headlines when they turn into tragedies, such as the Megan Meier case in 2006. Larger cases like this have prompted several states to adopt legislation that makes online bullying illegal.

3rd in the Cybercop Series. MIRROR IMAGE tells the story of teenagers Sheena and Megan, best friends who are victimized by a criminal who uses the Internet to lure young women with promises of modeling contracts and online romance. Neither of the girls realizes that hacking software has been placed on their computers during their conversations with their 'online boyfriends.' Soon Sheena and Megan begin to suspect that someone is stalking them in real life. Players work with a detective to track the predator and arrest him. Available both as a home edition and a school edition. [Windows and Mac OSX versions available]

2nd in the CyberCop Series, AIRDOGS was designed to show teenagers that online crimes have lifelong legal and social consequences for teens and their families. In the game, Luke is a teenager who shows great promise as a snowboarder. He needs money for gear and training, so he begins to counterfeit software in his basement. Players collect data and evidence to catch Luke's boss, who is the ringleader of the operation. The message of Air Dogs is clear: theft and extortion are crimes, whether you're 16 or 60. Available both as a home edition and a school edition. [Windows and Mac OSX versions available]

MISSING, from Web Wise Kids, is designed to SHOW rather than TELL children about online safety. It's a fun and positive way to teach children how to avoid danger on the Internet. The interactive software adventure tells the story of Zack, a kid in Vancouver, Canada who forms an online friendship with Fantasma. This guy is so cool - he has an online magazine about beach life in California and he sends Zack great stuff, like graphic arts and software. Little does Zack know that he is a predator. After Zach agrees to go to San Diego to be with Fantasma, players work with a detective to find and rescue Zack and arrest Fantasma. Available both as a home edition and a school edition. [Windows and Mac OSX versions available]. Note: Local middle school science teachers have successfully worked this program into their science curriculum since solving the game involves researching and collecting clues.

Very interesting post by Dan Shareski on the connections between parents, school districts, students and the internet.

podcast outlining a parent's fears about non filtering of Facebook at school

With nearly 13 million online users, the rapidly expanding virtual world Second Life is a risk for children, who could be sexually exploited, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) said Monday."This Second Life is a new scare, unchartered territory," Wilks said at a news conference Monday with Kirk at the Mt. Prospect Police Department. "It hits home." Kirk said he knew of no cases in which children were targeted by sexual predators on Second Life, but he said he considers the virtual world an emerging danger.

Web proxies are almost as old as the Internet itself as a means to route Web traffic through an anonymous domain name or circumvent content-filters, and they've long been the territory of corporate networks and the tech savvy seeking privacy. Nowadays, an increasing number of teenagers are setting up proxies on home PCs to sidestep school filtering traps, in addition to using free proxies set up on the Web, according to technologists at schools and at content-filtering technology providers.

Another YouTube brawl earns suspension for two girls. Two Southwind Middle School girls were suspended Monday after their locker room fight was posted on the Internet. This follows similar beatings in Indiana and Florida where the acts were committed in order to videotape the event. School principal Marcia Crouch sent a note home to parents Monday afternoon alerting them about the fight and warning them of the school district's zero-tolerance policy regarding such misbehavior.

Defend your virtual home. Some pretty bad folks are trying to break into your computer all the time. But you can make it a lot harder for them.