NetSmartz

As soon as our kids were big enough to get up and play on the computer (age 2-3 when they played educational software), we started to worry.
The internet is a big, huge amazing place where a person can work, information-gather, socialize, and so on and so forth.
And it's also a place where the most deplorable and evil elements of our society can lurk in anonymity and prey on others.
Once our two oldest kids started to get knowledgeable enough to navigate their way around the internet, we wanted to be prepared.
Long ago, we placed our desktop computer in a high traffic area. We actually remodeled a room to accommodate a study area and place to work online while still being "with" the rest of the family. My biggest fear was a pedophile adult luring my child in and sending them a plane ticket to Yugoslavia because I wasn't smart about the internet and my kid.

We have talked to our kids frequently about the dangers of the internet. About how we expect them to use it wisely. We also have a rule that there will be no computers with internet access in their rooms. Nope.

My oldest son, a 7th grader, had a series of talks at school as a 6th grader where they educate the kids about cyberbullying, harassment, and some of the other dangers that come up online.

But I know there must be parents out there who don't know how to broach the subject. And I assume that not all schools have the time and/or the funding to provide a series for kids about it.

There is website Mom Central sent me the link for that handles the topic of internet safety and other lessons, but directs it at the target audience. NS Teens has a list of characters in video and comic book form role playing various scenarios that have to do with their lives online.

Calling it NetSmartz, it really is just that. I have a few teenagers that have friended me on Facebook. The majority of them are pretty smart about what information they are sharing online.

But a few....idiots. Seriously. Either they have forgotten that they have adult "friends" or they just don't care.

NetSmartz addresses some of the things kids probably don't even think or care about right now. How colleges they may apply to someday can find the information they've put online. Employers can find it. Your choices online can affect your life outside the computer. So if you post a sexual picture online, with the speed of the internet, it can go viral and be sent to your dad's work email within 20 minutes. Or posting pictures of yourself doing something illegal can result in actually getting in for real trouble with the cops.

There are actual kids testimonials along with the cartoon cast of teenage characters talking about how their lives online affect the rest of their lives.

If you haven't had an opening to talk to your pre-teen or teen about their activities on the internet, at least this is an opening. It can be a springboard to get some intelligent and helpful dialogue going about the expectations for kids online.