Back to School in US but here's children getting ready for the First term exams to be held as the first term syllabus almost completed. Some schools have been conducting Drawing, Recitation, Environment, Dance competitions too. I gather, some school children are using their computers to surf the web to make school mags and even encouraged to write their comments on their school activities.

What concerns most is the Internet Safety and Privacy! When at school, there's homework assignments, talking to classmates, research projects, much more! Net is a scary place if children are not careful! There might be school data and the search may end up giving your name, email id and more to the information seeker. It is best to keep an impersonal email id at a gmail, yahoo or aol which has no details. Being suspicious is better than revealing your info. The email and chat etiquettes tips I wrote in my Book Guardian of Angels in 4th Chapter-New Waves of Technology, might be useful. (You can view the more contents in Guardian of Angels 'Look Inside' Feature at Amazon.) Also, here is a Byte Crime Booklet "Mind what you do Online". You can even download the Tip Sheets. Like I said earlier, What every child on net needs to know is "You are Watched". And with Google Accounts and it's search features, even what you searched is stored in Web History. Here are two sites for safety that might interest you - Online Guard and Web Safety for kids.

So, watch out there - whether you are a parent, teacher or a kid - follow the simple ethics of being "Good" and there, guardian angel watches you with loving care.
Btw, if children do freak on Social Networking sites, Parents need to beware - Be Aware! A recent case of Adnan is a scary example of fake profiles on such social networking sites. Earlier, Pew Internet Org conducted a survey and here is the Project Report stating details on Social Networking Websites and Teens:An Overview. Here is a Podcast, I thought you might be interested to know more on what Pew Senior Research Specialist Mary Madden has to say about it.

- Ilaxi Patel
Editor, www.kidsfreesouls.com
Newspaper for Kids with Resources for Parents & Teachers