Teens and tweens today have grown up as digital natives. I know when my tween talks about what she’s up to online, I worry that she’ll be careful. Just because our kids grew up familiar with the Internet does not necessarily mean they have learned safe online usage, which makes it important to find sites that can help.
NetSmartz, a leading online resource of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, used their expertise to develop NSTeens to educate, engage, and empower kids as Internet users. The website, http://www.nsteens.org/ includes bios, comics, and videos of seven teen characters. Their comic How Much Is Too Much illustrates the consequences of improper Internet use and shows the power of impact teens can have when they use their network to empower people. Videos cover important topics such as social networking, cyberbullying, and offline consequences. Each cartoon video also portrays interviews with teens talking about their Internet use.
Just the other day one of Darly’s blog friends asked where she lives…and Darly was about to tell her…for all the world to see. And while I’m pretty sure that her friend is indeed a child (from all the stuff she has posted on her blog) I still didn’t feel comfortable with Darly telling where we live. I think that no matter how often we tell our kids to be safe they still forget. I frequently have to go in and edit what Darly posts, thank goodness it is mostly typos. I know that using NSTeens can help us all as parents to keep our kiddos safe. Oh and there's also NetSmartz Kids for those of us with younger kiddos!
This review brought to you by MomCentral! 
Does this mean I shouldn't have given you my address? :o)
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