The recent MySpace agreement with state Attorneys General takes an initial step in the right direction for those of us concerned with online safety.  The social networking operator, MySpace.com and the top legal officials from around the country have agreed to a plan to protect kids that use the popular social networking site.
 
This deal is an example of how policymakers and the industry leaders can begin to work together to address the best methods for protecting our kids online and highlighting the important role that tools play for parents.
 
Parents must be involved in their children's Internet activity. The more parents are involved, the safer our kids will be. Parents need to educate themselves on the tools that are available; websites such as www.getnetwise.com are a resource for helpful tips and demos on online safety. Service providers are also engaged and offer information on their websites, such as AT&T's Smart Limits.  There is still more to be done to help protect our kids, but we are working in the right direction. The more diligent we all are on this issue, the better prepared we'll be to keep our kids safe online.
 
Here are a couple of news articles about the deal:
 
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Business/2008/01/14/myspace_state_ags_state_safety_principles/4874/
 
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/web20/61218.html

Last week I had the pleasure of participating in the first annual conference of the Family Online Safety Institute, "Rights and Responsibility:  Child Protection in a Web 2.0 World."  Stephen Balkam, FOSI's CEO, opened the conference, by discussing the "new culture of responsibility," a theme which continued throughout much of the day.

 

What does this mean? Simply put, as the Internet has confronted us with a new medium - one that is highly dynamic and unlike any we've seen before - and parents, teachers, policy makers, and others must work together in order to achieve the highest degree of online safety for our families. Even if parents lack a complete understanding of Web 2.0 tools, they still hold responsibility for instilling safe online practices in their children. One speaker referred to a "Web 2.0 approach based on educational resources; not fear."

 

Stephen Balkam is quite impressive and did a superb job of organizing the program.  I want to congratule Stephen and the FOSI staff and Board for  an excellent first  annual online safety conferences.  I expect there will be many more FOSI events, which is good news for the online safety community.
 
I will have more to post later this week about the  conference.