Inside NetSmartz Workshop
Educate. Engage. Empower: Router's Birthday Surprise Release!
It's finally here! NetSmartz Workshop proudly premieres Router's Birthday Surprise, an animated short dedicated to keeping today's families safer in the digital age. Since 2001, our beloved characters, Clicky, Nettie, and Webster have captured the hearts of children (ages 5-10) in schools and homes across the nation. Our newest 25-minute video engages children while helping to educate and empower them to make safer decisions on- and offline. Join us as Clicky, the Internet safety robot, plans a party for his robo-pup, Router. Meanwhile, the sneaky Webville Outlaws are once again up to no-good on the Internet. Clicky and his friends share rules about how to deal with them and real-world safety risks through songs, jokes, and games. Kids will remember these rules with Clicky's sing-along songs, which can now be purchased on iTunes, Amazon and Rhapsody for 99¢ each! It's a party no one should miss!
Don't forget to encourage your children to sign-up for Club UYN at www.NetSmartzKids.org for all the latest and greatest from NetSmartzKids!
Bulletin Board: Internet Safety—Where do I start?
Parents and guardians are always asking what they can do to keep their kids safer online: "Do I have to spy on them? Implant a super-secret microchip in the computer?" Not exactly. One of the first things you should do is establish a set of rules for online use. Setting boundaries will help your child make better decisions online.
Luckily, NetSmartz gives you a place to start with Internet Safety Rules for primary, intermediate, middle, and high school aged children. These rules use age-appropriate language to explain the fundamentals of online safety—from telling a trusted adult if they see anything that makes them uncomfortable, to not being a cyberbully.
Educators are even using these rules as "acceptable use policies" that students sign before accessing the Internet at school. Whether you're using these at home or in the classroom, the NetSmartz Internet Safety Rules are an excellent way to start an Internet safety discussion with your child.
Click here to download the Internet Safety Rules now!
Social Spotlight: A Techie Extraordinaire
Welcome, John Penn, a sr. computer scientist at Adobe Systems who has been a long time supporter of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and NetSmartz Workshop. He has worked with law enforcement to promote the use of Photoshop and digital imaging in investigation and forensics—critical in NCMEC's mission to recover missing kids. Mr. Penn has stepped outside of his role as an accomplished computer scientist to help build communities around key businesses.
Q: What was the biggest technological advancement of your generation?
A: The biggest technological advancement of my generation has to be the internet. Not just the web. But the underlying structure that lets us communicate in so many ways from email, to video, to custom applications on cell phones. It truly provides a block that almost anything can be built upon.
Q: Who is your favorite NetSmartz character?
A: Clicky, the Internet safety robot
Q: What is the best advice you have for parents who want to keep their kids safer online?
A: The Internet is everywhere. It's not just the computer that on the net anymore. Cell phones, game systems, cameras, music players, ebook readers. Devices of all kind allow access to the Internet.
Take the time to know what your children are doing online; where they post, what they post, and what devices they use to post.
Q: How did you get involved with NetSmartz Workshop?
A: I discovered NetSmartz when I was speaking at a law enforcement conference. As soon as I got home I showed it to my young daughter who took to it right away. More than anyplace I've seen on the internet, NetSmartz has impressed me with the age appropriate internet safety message.
Q: What social networking sites do you use?
A: Facebook, Linked-In, Twitter.
Q: Name one technology or gadget you can't live without.
A: iPhone - it's the internet in my pocket.
Q: What do you think is the biggest safety risk to youths online?
A: It's my belief that future generations will be very open about personal information online. With social networking sites youth are desensitized to the risks of posting very personal information. Youth need to be as active locking down their accounts as they are picking their avatars. Companies need to keep the safety of their youth users in mind and make privacy the default.
Q: What advice do you have for young people online?
A: Keep in mind that anything you post on the internet lasts forever, no matter how long it's posted for or where it's posted to. What you think is funny now, may be embarrassing next year, and keep you from getting into the college of your choice or getting that great job in the future. There is no UNDO on the internet!
Q: What is your favorite online activity?
A: Learning... about new things, people, places.
Q: What do you think the Internet will look like in five years?
A: I think the internet will be much faster, much more fluid, focused on apps and blogs. But the biggest change will be away from the computer as the portal to the internet. We've already seen the boundaries pushed by hardware platforms that fit in your pocket. I hope we'll see that trend continue with devices getting smaller and lighter and much more mobile. But with that advancement comes the risk of further exposure by children, which means parents and NetSmartz have their work cut out for them.
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Any views or opinions presented in Social Spotlight are solely those of the interviewee and do not necessarily represent those of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.