Parents challenged to test Web savvy

Mom and dad, how Web savvy are you? And do you know enough to protect your children from the labyrinth of graphic pornography, cyberbullying, "sexting" and other forms of predation that is flooding computers, Blackberries and even phones these days?

The nonpartisan nonprofit Enough is Enough, which leads in the battle to protect children from cyberthreats, has expanded its InternetSafety101.org program nationwide to provide the very services parents need.

"Parents and other adults are the first line of defense against online threats," Enough President Donna Rice Hughes explains in her introduction to the new version. "No child is immune to these risks online."

Enough is Enough, founded in 1994, has tailored the InternetSafety101 effort to become a weapon and defense accessible to everyone.

The pilot was launched in 2008 as a multi-media teaching series in Virginia, which led to an outreach that extended from local interaction with parents and teachers to a national resource now accessible to anyone.

"We are such a small organization but we thought it would be great to get the program out into the field," said Cris Clapp Logan, media contact for Enough is Enough. "Feedback from the Virginia pilot was wonderful and helped us refine the program."

This year, Enough is Enough launched the national version of the Internet Safety 101 and the corresponding website.

Clapp Logan said the website is meant to be accessible as a tool for parents, "where moms can go online to check it out."

Enough is Enough's widely acclaimed program includes firsthand accounts from law enforcement officers, clinicians, victims, parents, kids, industry leaders and even a convicted sex offender, according to the organization's website.

But Enough is Enough is not content to rest on the success of the program and is currently working on bringing awareness on a more personal level to individual states. Clapp Logan told WND the group wants to become more "state-focused and state-based."

"We have two levels, of course national, and we have also been able to bring this to a statewide level," she said.

Feedback shows Enough is Enough makes a lasting impact on a statewide level, and as a result, the organization will focus there in the future.

"This fall, we will be partnering with … town halls, and we will be able to train community leaders," Clapp Logan said. "We are also talking with the Florida attorney general to work with their law enforcement."

Enough is Enough explains that with the current economic situation, law enforcement does not have enough money to promote Internet safety training. But with the accessible Internet Safety 101, "they can also bring it into the communities without preparation, so they have more time to go after the bad guys."

"It's such an easy-to-use program," Clapp Logan said. "It's not something that is easy to outdate."

Internet Safety 101 is even compatible with the iPad, while being accessible to parents and easy to use.

Enough is Enough utilizes a unique three-pronged approach, attempting to get the public, technology and the law to share responsibility in making the Internet safer and raising awareness of online threats.

Clapp Logan said the approach is "important to use because one without the other leaves a hole."

Enough is Enough continues to develop in all three areas.

“On June 15, [we] will be doing a Capital Hill briefing on pornography harms, so that's an example of how we do legal structure, since there are existing obscenity laws that aren't actually enforced," Clapp Logan said.

Enough is Enough has industry support and currently is working with Google and Microsoft to feature a new way for parents to prevent kids from contact with inappropriate content.

"The technology industry has great resources, but a lot of parents don't use them, that's one way we can link the technology industry with public," Clapp Logan explained. "We serve as a clearing house for the technology industry for parents, for educators, so they are actually aware of the resources that are available for filtering and monitoring content on the Internet."