Last week I attended the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, where I had the opportunity to roam the exhibits and view the latest gizmos and online technology. I also attended a special program, the "Sandbox Summit," which explored the ways children are using the latest digital technology.
 

No session about kids and the internet would be complete without some information regarding online safety and the "Sandbox Summit" conference raised a few interesting and insightful thoughts that help inform parents' concern about online safety. 
 

First, a Summit speaker with Nickelodeon pointed to the fact that homes with kids have more high tech items and today even the youngest kids are going online. In today's digital world, children have become the experts and parents often go to their kids for advice on technology purchases.
 

Although children have become the chief technology officers in many households and play an important role in determining the selection and purchase of technology items in the home, parents still need to maintain the primary role of gatekeepers for online safety.
 

According to one of the speakers at the Summit, one in four kids have a computer in their bedroom, which can make it very difficult for parents to monitor their children's online usage. One simple online safety first-step is to place the computer in a more public place in the home, so parents can have more oversight of their kids' use of the Internet. 
 

Parental guidelines for Internet use and safety in the home, as well as online tools such as AT&T's Smart Limits, provide the best "shovels and pails" to use in a family's "online sandbox."