Last year, 49 state attorneys general created The Internet Safety Technical Task Force to study the problem of how to keep kids safer online. A year later, the task force's findings have caused some controversy. Namely that the biggest threat to kids on the internet comes from their peers. Task force member and CEO of the Family Online Safety Institute Stephen Balkam discusses the study

The NECC Program features a broad spectrum of content focused on the standards, curriculum, best practices, and essential conditions for creating a 21st-Century learning environment for students.

To Willard the key is not to frighten children, but instead teach them proactive ways to protect themselves while adults keep an eye out as well. Willard charges students to act responsibly, such as "Stay Out of the Garbage," and avoid pornography or other "gross stuff" online, and also to "Connect Safely," reminding kids not to send mean or nasty messages. Adults get some advice as well-with Willard cautioning them not to make a big deal if a child brings up something that happened online, such as a stranger trying to gather personal information. Any kind of extreme response, like taking away Internet privileges, could discourage them from bringing up concerns again.

Gina Healy didn't expect to hold an assembly with her middle schoolers about sexting. But after the school newspaper wrote about an alleged incident involving 8th graders sending nude photos over cell phones, Healy consulted with the Newton, PA, police department-and then talked to her students.

An Interview with Sonia Livingstone (Part One). According to the study, UK Children Go Online, children were neither as powerful nor as powerless as the two competing myths might suggest. As the Myth of the Digital Generation suggests, children and youth were using the Internet effectively as a resource for doing homework, connecting with friends, and seeking out news and entertainment. At the same time, as the Myth of the Columbine Generation might imply, the adults in these kids' lives tended to underestimate the problems their children encountered online, including the percentage who had unwanted access to pornography, had received harassing messages, or had given out personal information....

The laws governing "sexting" should be overhauled so naive teenagers sending raunchy images are not lumped with serious sex offenders, experts say. Under current legislation children who send sexually explicit images or video of themselves to others can face child pornography charges and even be placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

Online Safety Quiz for Kids from SecureFlorida.org. Questions cover privacy issues like online profiles, pictures, passwords and screen names. Find out how safe you are. Web links lead to best practices for parents & kids.

National Internet Safety Month is an opportunity to increase awareness about the risks we and our families face on the Internet. It is also a perfect time to promote information and resources to help us stay safe online. Site includes tips for staying safe online.

Last year, Congress passed the Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act,which called for yet another committee to study Internet safety. By statute, the Online Safety and Technology Working Group is made up of representatives of the business community, public interest groups and federal agencies.

A new law aimed at deterring the proliferation of cyberbullying at public schools goes into effect Jan. 1, bolstering educators' ability to tackle the problem head-on.The law gives school administrators the leverage to suspend or expel students for bullying other students by means of an electronic device such as a mobile phone or on an Internet social networking site like MySpace or Facebook; the law, however, only applies to bullying that occurs during school hours or during a school-related activity.

This site provides a detailed account of states that have begun taking legal action against cyberbullying. Many states are just in the process of introducing legislation. For updated information on new laws and legislation, you can go to your local senate website and search cyberbullying. Most legislation includes "cyberbullying", though the focus of the campaign was "bullying" in general. Many states require the local district to enact a policy. For specific rules and regulations, you should contact your local PTA.

Parents, school districts, and law-enforcement officials have been grappling with what to do with teenagers who take sexually explicit photos of themselves with their cell phone cameras and send them to friends. Now, a handful of state legislatures are moving to get rid of one option: child pornography charges that result in lifetime listings on states' internet sex-offender registries.

In the past 10 years 37 U.S. states have adopted legislation mandating that schools implement anti-bullying statutes.

Possibilities is a national conference presented in recognition of nation missing Children's Month designed to offer quality training and information on topics and model programs of interest to leaders in the health and safety of our nations children: social workers, counselors, educators, child care and youth workers, law enforcement personnel, medical and legal professionals, parents elected officials, and other interested child advocates. Participants may attend their choice of a variety of workshops on child abuse and neglect prevention and educational programs or may select workshops for specialized training credits and professional development.

They prey on news forums, chat rooms, and other online communities. Their purpose: to disrupt any conversation or thread, and to get an emotional response from some unwary person. Ignoring them and not responding to their posts is your best option. What kind of people are trolls? They're cowards. Lonely cowards. Their posts seldom show any real imagination and often resort to childish name-calling.

The Institute for Responsible Online and Cell-Phone Communication (I.R.O.C.2) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating society about safety, self responsibility, and self accountability as well as the devastating and life altering consequences that can occur when failing to apply our concept of "Digital Responsibility 2.1C" while using the internet, cell phones and other digital technologies.

Question posed in a high school newsletter: If a school comes across online material that depicts a star athlete or school government officer engaging in an illegal activity, should they merely ignore it? Surely, one's moral compass would dictate otherwise. Students must be disciplined for their actions in both the real and virtual worlds.

A group of high school students said recently that cyberbullying is on the rise in their schools, just as it is nationally. Cyberbullying is loosely defined as using computers or cell phones to harass or bully another. It can happen by cell phone text messages, on social networking sites and even on online games that allow chatting. "It's growing and it's going to continue to grow," said Rich Horner, the police superintendent for North Franklin Township in Washington County, on the southwest side of Washington. "A lot of this stuff is kids being kids. There's always been bullying. Now, they have more avenues to do it. It's enough of a problem that the state attorney general's office created a video about cyberbullying and will launch it in May, said Diana Woodside, assistant director of education and outreach.

Parents can help kids avoid being victims by encouraging them not to post personal information online "that allows other people to see how vulnerable they are" to teasing, Willard says, and by asking them to communicate with friends, and friends of friends, only. Having the computer in a family room or other well-trafficked area allows Mom and Dad to better observe a child's reactions and gauge whether something is wrong.

Learn how to turn on Google's SAFE SEARCH filtering.