Summer is an exciting time for most kids. School’s out, and the warm weather allows for lots of outdoor play. But these days, too often kids don’t spend their new-found free time playing outside. Instead, they’re locked indoors, held captive by the all-empowering computer monitor.

And it can be more difficult to supervise a child’s computer usage than a game of freeze tag…For that reason, it’s imperative our kids become well-versed in staying safe online, and parents and educators have the skills they need to effectively protect children from the minefield of threats to their online safety.

Stop Internet Predators, a project of Stop Child Predators, will kickoff Summer Safety week on Monday May 18th. Summer Safety Week will show kids how they can safely navigate the Internet, and help teach parents what they can do to make sure their kids are making responsible decisions online (and maybe even have fun doing it).

Florida Activities:

To kick off Summer Safety Awareness Week in Florida, Stop Internet Predators and Florida state Attorney General Bill McCollum’s CyberCrime Unit announced a partnership to conduct a summer safety awareness campaign. The two organizations and the Unit will work together on statewide Internet safety presentations for local PTAs and other interested groups throughout the summer months.”

North Carolina Activities:

MONDAY, MAY 18, 2009

Event: Internet Safety Program Forum

Time: 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm

Location: West Cary Middle School
1000 Evans Road
Cary, NC 27513

Event Description:

The North Carolina Department of Justice will give a presentation designed to help parents and children understand online safety issues and provide practical information to assist them in keeping young people safe on the Internet.

Caroline Farmer, Deputy Director of North Carolina Department of Justice will discuss identity theft and consumer protection issues related to the Internet and Lindsay Deree, Special Counsel will then speak about the most prevalent risks of the Internet to minors (solicitation, exposure, and threats/harassment) and what adults can do to keep minors safe while they use the Internet

An interactive video with helpful tips for staying safe will also be shown after the presentations. Upon completion of the video, parents and children will have the opportunity to look at the materials and to interact one-on-one with the speakers.

TUESDAY, MAY 19, 2009

Event: Child Internet Safety Awareness Week Press Conference

Time: 10:30 am

Location: North Carolina General Assembly
16 West Jones Street
Raleigh, NC 27601

This will be the kick-off press conference for the Child Internet Safety Week. The North Carolina Lieutenant Governor will discuss efforts in the North Carolina General Assembly and Attorney General’s office to protect children from online predators and prevent children from being taken advantage of on the Internet.

In an effort to recognize key policy makers and community leaders across America, Stop Internet Predators will award individuals who work to combat the online sexual exploitation of our nation’s children. Their work is especially crucial in an ever evolving environment where new technologies are created daily.

The Champion of Online Safety Award will be presented during a press conference on Tuesday, May 12th at 4:30 pm in the Pavilion Ballroom of the Ritz Carlton at Ten Avenue of the Arts in Philadelphia. The event will be streamed live to www.stopinternetpredators.org. You can view the stream below.

The award will be presented by Stacie Rumenap, Executive Director of Stop Internet Predators. Each person receiving an award will be given the opportunity to speak.

Stop Internet Predators has a proven track record of working with lawmakers, parents, teachers, consumers, and children to educate them about the dangers of many new online technologies that predators use to exploit children. With new technologies emerging all the time, this is an especially daunting task.

The devastating consequences of criminal exploitation of technology can often strike very close to home. One such example is the tragedy surrounding the alleged predator being referred to in the media as “the Craigslist Killer.” For every story deemed newsworthy there are countless other’s that the general public never hears about.

The host of available online tools and applications can be very useful to consumers as they provide a variety of services and benefits often at no cost to the user. Unfortunately criminals are lining up to take advantage of these technologies and the people who use them—most concernedly, our children. It’s time for companies to step up to the plate and provide users with the proper safeguards, and take preventative measures to reduce the risk that criminals rely on.