BetStopper software blocks kids’ gambling. Parents now have a new weapon in the fight to keep kids from online gambling.  The Nova Scotia Gaming Corp. has developed software that parents can install on home computers that will block access to gambling websites. The software is said to be the first of its kind in the world. A study commissioned by the corporation in 2006 found children were gambling online three times as often as adults. Sixty per cent of the young gamblers were boys, while 25 per cent were girls. link

Back to School: Reading, Writing and Internet Safety Listen to this story... 'Internet Safety: What You Don't Know Can Hurt Your Child' As students return to school in Virginia, there's something new in their curriculum. Virginia is the first state to require public schools to teach Internet safety.

Violent Games UK to join EU campaign against violent video games An EU official was recently quoted as saying "We are not calling for censorship, but the sale of cigarettes and alcohol is prohibited to minor why not violent games."

Anxiety grows around teen net use  A real and dramatic difference is emerging in how teenagers handle personal relationships compared to adults in their late 20s, transforming the social lives of teens and often bewildering their elders.
For the younger crowd, online time is steadily supplanting personal contact with friends. A recent Nielson/NetRatings study documented a 24 percent rise in Web use in 2005 to an average 26 hours each month. For many, the Web is a way to reach out and bond with people with diverse backgrounds from innumerable places with minimal effort. The ease with which teens now access their social communities is striking. Instant messaging has replaced the telephone as the preferred mode to reach out to friends, as it allows instant access on the cheap. Parents can't fret over astronomical phone bills or minutes used, and as a result they are largely kept in the dark regarding a significant portion of their child's social life.