More shows in this subject heading:

Kids Online

Aired November 22 and 23, 1997

Listen to the show.

You must have RealAudio installed to listen to the show. Download RealAudio here.

This is Internet On The Air. I'm Todd Mundt. How can parents protect their children when the kids surf the Internet? More in a moment.

Funding Credit: Internet On The Air is a production of the University of Michigan School of Information and Michigan radio, made possible by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Children are taught at an early age not to talk to strangers. And they are told always to let their parents know where they are. These rules are concrete and simple to follow. But how do they work on the Internet? How do parents protect their children from pornorgraphy, from strangers in a chat group, or from revealing personal information when visiting a Web site specifically designed to attract kids?

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court overturned the first major piece of legislation to address children and the Internet. The court ruled that the Communications Decency Act infringed upon the right to free speech. But questions remain about the roles of parental supervision and legislation in protecting children from obscene material on the Web.

Next month, corporations like IBM and Microsoft will sponsor a conference in which computer industry leaders, politicians, and educators will discuss issues involving children and the Internet. The conference will focus on strategies for protecting children on-line, as well as ways to help kids find good Web sites. Government intervention and technology like blocking software may help restrict children's access to questionable material on the Web, but most experts agree that parental involvement is the only way to make sure children have a safe experience in Cyberspace.

To find out more information about how to protect your children on the web, visit our own Web site at www.iota.org. For Internet On The Air, I'm Todd Mundt.

Top of Page

Related Links

In the news recently:

• The Anti-Defamation League has unveiled the HateFilter, which blocks access to Websites "of individuals or groups that, in the judgment of the anti-Defamation League, advocate hatred, bigotry or even violence towards Jews or other groups on the basis of...immutable characteristics."
  
  
• Read about HateFilter in this ZDNet article.

Updated November 16, 1998.

To find out how to protect your children when they surf the Web, check out these sites. They offer guidelines and suggestions on how to make their trip on the Information Superhighway safe and fun.

• Librarian's Guide to Cyberspace for Parents and Kids: From the American Library Association
• Child Safety on the Information Highway
• Learning in the Real World
• Children and the Information Superhighway: Identifying the Hidden Hazards"
• Edusource Web Reviews: Fun Sites for Kids

To learn recent events concerning child safety on the Internet, try these news articles and reports:

• NYT article, "Clinton Adviser Urges Self-Regulation in Cyberspace"
  
  
• NYT article, "More Children Are Online-But Where? And Doing What?"
  
  
• NYT article, "Youth Group Takes On-Site Filtering Software"
  
  
• National Telecommunications and Information Administration Report on Privacy: Children's Privacy and the Global Information Infrastructure
  
  
• The Regulation of Pornography and Child Pornograhy on the Internet

To find out more about PICS (Platform for Internet Content Selection), visit their Web site at: http://www.w3.org/PICS/

To find out more about filtering software, try these sites first:

• SafeSurf Home Page
  
  
• CyberSitter
  
  
• CyberPatrol
  
  
• NetNanny

To find out more about the Communications Decency Act, try these sites:

• Full Text of the Supreme Court's Decision to throw out the Communications Decency Act
  
• CyberTimes Communications Decency ActHome Page

Top of Page

The Interview

There was no interview recorded for this show.

Please direct questions or comments to iota.webmaster@umich.edu.

Last Updated January 26, 2000