For more information or questions call Diane Kendall at
713-467-8686 or email to: dkendall@childsoftpress.com

Internet Safety Revisited

February 5, 2002 - INTERNET SAFETY. Media headlines were full of the real and supposed dangers of the Internet just a few years ago. Now only the more bizarre incidents make it into the back pages of local newspapers. Yet, in the real world, safety issues persist for parents, teachers, and children who use the Internet daily. All these groups need tools and advice to help them cope with frightening or confusing situations that sometimes arise from online experiences

Four years ago, Children's Software published a booklet on Internet safety called Safety First: Children and the Internet-An Easy-to-Use Guide for Parents and Teachers. Written by Dr. Merle Marsh, that publication sold thousands of copies and became a regular handout at meetings and workshops attended by concerned parents and teachers around the country. Today marks the publication of a revised, updated, and enhanced version of that popular booklet.

Drawing on the solid advice in the last version of Safety First, the new edition has expanded from 4 to 12 pages to include the wisdom and experience of parents and teachers who work with children and computers everyday. Specific guidelines for teachers, parents, and students are spelled out, with detailed suggestions for working with children of various ages to introduce and reinforce safety precautions for using the Internet. The booklet also explores the use of filtering software and provides information on how to acquire useful titles. A whole section of the revised booklet is now devoted to email and how to deal with concerns and problems related to that rapidly growing form of communication. Real life stories emphasize the shared wisdom approach featured in the revised booklet, and a comprehensive resource list of useful publications and Internet sites is included.

Inexpensively priced at $5 (bulk discounts available), the booklet is a must-have for all parents and teachers who deal with young people who use computers. This new edition no doubt will continue to sell as a favorite handout for teacher and parent workshops dealing with the Internet and computer technology. Many school districts also buy copies to send home to parents as an accompaniment to Acceptable Use Policy technology contracts between students, parents, and schools.

Safety First: Children and the Internet-An Easy-to-Use Guide for Parents and Teachers is the latest publication in the Brochure Series from Children's Software Press. Other popular titles in the series include the best- selling Writing a Paperless Paper, The Incredible Internet-What Parents and Teachers Really Need to Know, and A Student Guide to Detecting Misinformation on the World Wide Web.