Safe Internet For Schools (edgate.com)

Member Name: cbpotts

Product:	edgate.com
Date:	13/07/01 (36 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: safe, educational, fun

Disadvantages: mostly USA targeted (but customizable)

When I was a youngster, my siblings and I ruled our neighborhood. We played from one end of the street to the other and only thought of our parents when my dad whistled us inside for dinner. Now, when I go back home, the only time I see children playing at the park is with their parents accompanying them. I rarely see them running from one yard, though another to a more distant house. It's a sad commentary on how warped our society has become.

Yesterday I read Shazzy's story of the harrassment and abuse her two children have felt at the hands of classmates with horror. All the children were trying to do was go to school.

Closer to home, we scarcely stopped reeling from the news of the mother who had drowned her two children in a car by driving it in a lake, when the headlines are smacked again with another parent who has taken the lives of her 5 children.

The scariest thing for any parent is when you feel like you can not protect your child when he or she is in what should be the safety of the home. Unfortunately, while the Internet has opened a world of opportunity to all of us, it has also opened a window for all that is corrupt and malignant to enter into our childrens' bedrooms and minds.

CNN reported in April that "easy access to Web sites is now attracting a younger audience who have begun experimenting with the production and publication of 'peer' pornography." PEER pornography. Who could have imagined? Here are some other horrendous facts collected by a report for USA TODAY:

• About one in five received an online sexual solicitation or approach in the past year.
• Approximately one in four children in the past year were subject to unwanted exposure to photos of people having sex or of naked people.
• About one in 17 children had been threatened or harassed on the Internet.

Our government is doing its best to combat these statistics. The C
hildren's Online Privacy Protection Act is a good start. As parents, we can do even more. Of course, the first step is being aware of what our children are doing when they're online. The second is providing them with the resources to use the Internet as a helpful tool for learning.

EdGate.com is such a resource. Created almost seven years ago by educators, it is dedicated to providing a safe, secure environment for children, teachers, parents and classrooms to research, learn and teach. The tool can be used as is at www.edgate.com, or, it can be purchased by anything as large as a country (Australia uses it), state (Wyoming), district or classroom.

From a research center to a creative zone, there is so much for children to explore, try and do. Teachers have the opportunity to connect with parents in a way they couldn't before. While the students may not be thrilled with this feature, imagine a parent being able to go to the teacher's web site with the click of a button and seeing what the child had studied that day, as well as what homework has been assigned for that evening.

There are links to safe search engines, newspapers and news sites around the world, educational games and much, much more. With partners like USA TODAY, Smithsonian Institution and Encyclopaedia Britannica, you know content is reliable.

If your child is in school and you're connected to the Internet, I highly recommend you give edgate.com a try. Can you afford not to?

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