Teens and Safety on the Internet

One of the subscriptions I have via e-mail is with the Federal Citizen Information Center. If you are old enough you probably remember receiving the Consumer Information Catalog with all sorts of free and inexpensive publications put out by the government. There is a lot of good information out there, from health, to recalls, to information on insurance--you name it, they probably have a booklet or pamphlet on it. I got an e-mail today for their publication of the week, which in this case is a free DVD aimed at keeping teens safe on the internet. I have enclosed the body of the e-mail below with the link if you should be interested in ordering:

You are subscribed to Publication of the Week page updates from the Federal Citizen Information Center ( www.pueblo.gsa.gov/puboftheweek.htm ).

How to teach teens about online safety? Order this week's featured publication, the "Cyber Security Toolkit for Teens." It's actually a free, interactive DVD that has lots of tips and is especially designed for classroom use by middle- and high-schoolers.

Place an order for the free DVD

Whether you have a teen at home or not, this is valuable information. I know I have nephews I want to know this, and frankly, I am sure I will learn something from it myself. So many of us are active on the social networking sites (MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, etc. . .) with our blogging and keeping in touch with families, but are we really doing all we can to stay safe? The updates are sent out weekly, they cover a range of topics and they are almost all completely free. I receive the e-mails, and if the item they feature doesn't apply to me, I just delete until the next time. It is free to sign up to receive updates. In these tough economic times, it is nice to have a free resource to go to for many different topics.