With April designated "Internet Safety Month," the FBI and I-SAFE America want to focus on keeping the kids on guard against those who would victimize them online. That's what prompted the FBI's Community Outreach Unit and I-SAFE to launch a joint program to urge kids, "Know The Turf Before You Surf."
And they're stressing parallel points - children can be victims only too easily, but they also have to beware that they, too, don't break the law while surfing in cyberspace.
I-SAFE announced the new partnership March 3, saying its nationwide curriculum - based on FBI Internet safety guidelines - got a tryout in an Ohio middle school, with 11 of 15 computer lab students responding positively when asked to send an Internet stranger their photographs.
"These youngsters could easily have become part of the growing statistic of online predator victims," said I-SAFE founder/CEO Teri Schroeder, who made the partnership announcement with FBI public affairs officer Cassandra M. Chandler. "And it's not only the kids who need to learn how to recognize danger and how to immediately report it. Parents and guardians must also become alert to warning signs."
"The full scope of child pornography and child exploitation via the Internet is unknown," Chandler told reporters. She said a University of New Hampshire study three years ago showed one in five children getting sexual approaches on the Net, with almost 70 percent of those occurring when the would-be victim was on the home computer.
"We feel that a multi-agency community educational outreach approach with I-SAFE will be a successful way to address this burgeoning crime problem," Chandler continued. "Children and their parents also need to know that when children break the law online, they will be held responsible for their actions along with their parents."
I-SAFE raises its funds through a combination of government grants and various corporate, community, and individual contributions, from sources as varied as software companies, parent-teacher associations, school districts, and other business interests.
For further information on Internet Safety Month or any I-SAFE programs, contact (310) 275-0777 for I-SAFE, or (202) 324-6660 for the FBI's Office of Public Affairs.
