Lots of great stuff here, just remember when you click on various sites there are some ads and pop-ups. Remember that clicking on pop ups gives those advertisers browsing history about you. We went through all of the links and they appear to be safe, for instance one is the FBI’s Internet Safety Guide.

Great resources to share – check them out.

IC3′s mission is to serve as a vehicle to receive, develop, and refer criminal complaints regarding the rapidly expanding arena of cyber crime. The IC3 gives the victims of cyber crime a convenient and easy-to-use reporting mechanism that alerts authorities of suspected criminal or civil violations. For law enforcement and regulatory agencies at the federal, state, local and international level, IC3 provides a central referral mechanism for complaints involving Internet related crimes. read more >>

Filing a Complaint with IC3

IC3 accepts online Internet crime complaints from either the person who believes they were defrauded or from a third party to the complainant. We can best process your complaint if we receive accurate and complete information from you. Therefore, we request that you provide the following information when filing a complaint:

• Your name
• Your mailing address
• Your telephone number
• The name, address, telephone number, and Web address, if available, of the individual or organization you believe defrauded you.
• Specific details on how, why, and when you believe you were defrauded.
• Any other relevant information you believe is necessary to support your complaint.

File a Complaint >>

 

Created by the folks at Google, the site offers 50+ short videos with easy to follow, step by step instructions from the Basics to Blogging. They start with a form you fill out, check the videos you think will be helpful (and not demeaning) and it emails the note from you with a link to the videos. Mom, Grandma, your best friend clicks on the video and watches it as often as they like. You might want to take special care – some videos are MAC specific – so don’t confuse the issue… 

Fun stuff, talented kids, good messages – Winning!

“What’s New at the Cyberbullying Research Center

Sample questions that are addressed:

Is it OK to copy or rip music, film, TV programmes or videos from a CD or DVD to my computer or media player?

Where are the best legal sites to find music, film and TV?

Are there penalities for illegally sharing films, music and other entertainment on the Internet?  

Check out the Guide

Seventeen years ago today, one little girl was not as lucky. Many of you may remember the story of 12 year old Polly Klaas who was kidnapped from her own home as her mother slept in another room. In the middle of a pajama party a stranger entered their home, tied up all of the girls and took Polly. The first real Internet related manhunt resulted from Polly’s abduction and just two months later Polly’s remains were found. Out of a mother’s anguish a foundation was formed. Since 1993 the Polly Klaas hotline has been answered 24/7 and they have helped over 6900 families in that time.

On this very sad anniversary, we are reminded it truly does take all of us to help keep our children safe, both offline and on.  The Foundation has created a booklet that you can download on ways  to keep  your children safe. It is a good reminder for all of us. Bless you Polly and all of the children that have gone missing, we will never forget you.

GAMMY PATROL – Here is just one member’s idea:

Rose lives in Novato, California and is a grandmother of seven. She took it upon herself to recruit stay at home moms and dads and retirees in the neighborhood to join her in watching out for the safety of neighborhood kids.

Her request was simple and informal:  During those hours children are walking to and from school,

1. Sit on your front porch, or
2. Take a walk or jog around the neighborhood.

Each day Rose sits on her porch and quietly watches children walking home from school.  Rose and her neighbors are doing their part to keep the neighborhood kids safe…and sending this clear message to any predators….”Not in my neighborhood & not on my watch!“

From  ConsumerReports.org : The Federal Trade Commission recently put together an excellent program for keeping kids safe online. Their brochure, “Net Cetera – Chatting with Kids About Being Online,” is available free from the FTC by visiting their OnGuard Online website. Hard copies are also available for schools. 

The Net Cetera brochure is chock full of a good advice for parents and caregivers. “We wrote Net Cetera to encourage parents to communicate their own values to their kids,” said Carolyn Shanoff, director of consumer and business education for the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “When parents are upfront about their values and how they apply in the online world, kids are more likely to make thoughtful decisions when they face tricky situations.” Here are just some of the tips:    

•    Talk to your kids as soon as they start using a computer, cell phone, or any other mobile device. Explain about the dangers of Internet use, perhaps by discussing news stories about cyber bullying and the like.

•    Keep the computer in a common area of your home, not a private one, so your child is cognizant of potential parental supervision while she surfs the Web.  

•    Check the sites your children are visiting to make sure they’re appropriate, and review the sites’ privacy policies. Find out what information a website wants from your child; websites are required to get parental authorization to collect personal information on a child. 

•    Review your child’s friends list on social networking sites, and have her “friend” you so you can see who she is communicating with.

•    Set the parental controls on the computer to filter out inappropriate websites, and privacy settings to restrict who can access and post on your child’s social media profile. 

•    Explain to your kids why they should post only information that they are comfortable with others seeing. Discuss how their electronic communications leave “footprints” that can’t be erased.

Read the whole article and check out the links

Alison Rhodes, also known as The Safety Mom, has exploded onto the national scene as the preeminent voice on kid’s safety, wellness and healthy living. She is always on the lookout for the issues facing all children – newborns to teens as well as the entire family.

While Alison’s career began as a response to the death of her first child, over the years Alison has expanded her career platform to include the gamut of issues  facing children today from the importance of healthy eating and an active lifestyle to cyber bullying and toy safety. Alison believes that a child’s parents are their greatest safety advocate and coaches parents that when it comes to dealing with their children, it’s important to be parents first and friends second. 

Mary Kay Hoal
Founder, President, COO

A proud wife and mother of five children (both biological and adopted, ranging in age from 5-18 years old), Mary Kay faces the same challenges every parent does: keeping her kids safe; raising them to be good, happy and well-balanced people; and providing them with the tools and support to create their own future.

While Mary Kay readily admits that she didn’t “get” the whole online social networking phenomenon at first, she quickly recognized its importance in her kids’ lives. After researching the disturbing landscape of social networking sites—including endless inappropriate content and thousands of predators targeting youth—Mary Kay’s mission became clear: raise the bar.

Conceived and founded by Mary Kay, Yoursphere is the first social networking service for youth that parents can embrace. Drawing on her corporate entrepreneurial experience as a media strategist, advertising, marketing and publishing VP formerly with CMP Media LLC, Mary Kay built the Yoursphere team. (See “Cool Sites” for more about Yoursphere)