A major wireless carrier announced it is teaming up with a nonprofit group to promote safer online behavior among young people who may be exploited on the internet.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and telecom company Sprint today released a new website to help educate tweens (children aged 8 to 12) about staying safe while gaming online and connecting with others through the web.
The resources made available are available for free on NSTeens.org, an internet safety tool sponsored by Sprint and created by NCMEC’s NetSmartz Workshop. NSTeens.org is funded through Sprint Project Connect, Sprint’s phone-recycling program.
"Twenty-five years ago when the National Center first started, we wanted to help families understand the risks that their children faced and make it easier for them to have conversations about safety. The Internet, and the advent of online gaming and social networking have not changed that core mission," said NCMEC president and CEO Ernie Allen.
About 97 percent of teens ages 12-17 play computer, web, portable or console games and 27 percent play games with people through the internet, including more than a quarter of those teens that play with people they don’t know in real life, according to research from the Pew Internet and American Life Project indicates that.
The NSTeens website teaches kids about online harassment, etiquette and the dangers of sharing too much information. The site’s applications use animated characters to model safer online practices and materials for adults are designed to educate parents about internet safety.
NSTeens content also addresses cyberbullying, safer social networking and the offline consequences of online actions, the groups said.