Making Blogging Safe for Kids

EMERYVILLE, Calif., March 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Kids with their endless
curiosity have taken to the Internet like fish to water, and they may
be getting in way over their heads. This virtual world -- just like
its physical counterpart -- has things that are good, things that are
a waste of time, and things that are downright dangerous.

"Take blogging, an Internet activity that has become all the rage with
kids," said Jeanette Symons, Founder and CEO of Industrious Kid
(www.industriouskid.com). "There is a very good chance that your child
has a blog, and that it may contain some fairly shocking personal or
made-up content. For example we are seeing some children creating
seductive adult personas, and these fictitious alter egos are matched
by predators passing themselves off as kids. It's time to make
blogging and online communities safe for kids."

Lacking such places, kids eagerly seize free space and blog-building
tools and publish their online diaries -- web logs, or "blogs" -- on
sites such as MySpace.com and LiveJournal. These sites are intended
for adults and are full of adult content, but that just adds to their
attraction. Kids can simply lie to get around the age restrictions,
and studies show that many do.

There are already millions of kid-authored blogs today as baby
bloggers try to one-up each other and make their individual creations
stand out from the crowd. The password protection feature makes it
seem like access to their blogs is quite limited, but in reality the
kids are baring their souls and personal information to the world.

Technology entrepreneurs like Symons are working with educators to
make blogging safe for kids. They are creating blogging domains that
combine strong protective measures and controls with the kind of
content, applications, and dynamics that make the environment
compelling and exciting to kids.

The details for such kid-friendly, parent-approved blogging
environments are still being hammered out, but experts have identified
three key ingredients:

-- Strongly authenticated access that creates a controlled ecosystem

through identification of users, which weeds out the undesirable

elements and limits the scope of publishing.

-- Powerful tools for parental monitoring and control of the "who, what's

and how often's" of their children's activities.

-- Dynamic age-appropriate content and applications to interest and

stimulate the audience.

Many people simply want to ban blogging for kids, but it actually has
many positive aspects. Instead of yakking on the phone or meeting at
the mall, children online are creating something, expressing
themselves in new ways, communicating with the written word, and
becoming computer- and Internet-savvy -- all important skills that
have much broader applications.

"We can't stuff the online Genie back in the bottle," said Symons.
"The digital landscape with all its faults is a permanent backdrop to
our kids' lives. We need to engage this new reality and create on
online environment that is not only safe and constructive, but a place
where our children simply want to be."

Available experts: Jeanette Symons, CEO, Industrious Kid,
510-984-1985; Tim Donovan, VP of Marketing, Industrious Kid,
510-725-4104. SOURCE Industrious Kid