Bayh Pushes Bill to Increase Internet Safety Programs
By: Web Producer
Updated: December 10, 2007
From: Evans Bayhs Office
Bayh Pushes Bill to Increase Internet Safety Programs to Protect Kids from Online Predators
Washington — With one in five children having received a sexual solicitation over the Internet last year, Senator Evan Bayh is pushing for more resources to help parents and teachers educate kids on how to protect themselves from online predators.
“Every day we become more aware of how vulnerable our kids are to online sexual predators who use the Internet to entrap and victimize children,” Senator Bayh said. “This bill focuses on arming parents and teachers with valuable, user-friendly tools to help kids learn how to protect themselves.”
Bayh is cosponsoring, along with Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), the Internet Safety Education Act of 2007. The bill would provide $10 million in grants for national, state and local community programs to implement and expand Internet education programs that would be free for parents and teachers.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, last year, one in five children received a sexual solicitation over the Internet. Additionally, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reports that two out of three teenagers who use the Internet have their own page on a social networking site, and 14 percent of teenagers have met face to face with someone they had previously known only online.
