N.J. teaching children how to surf Web safely Thursday, November 01, 2007 • BY DEBORAH HOWLETT • Star-Ledger Staff For years, parents have warned children not to talk to strangers. But in the Internet age, Attorney General Anne Milgram said yesterday at a unique training session for New Jersey teachers, children sit down at a computer almost every day and wander unsupervised through cyberspace, where 40 million strangers lurk. "The Internet is a great tool for learning," Milgram said, "but it can also be a parent's worst nightmare because of the potential dangers that can confront unsuspecting children." Milgram spoke to about 200 teachers and school administrators at the State Police technology center in Hamilton to kick off the first of five regional Internet safety training sessions. The program, created by Milgram and Education Commissioner Lucille Davy, enlists educators to address growing concern over use of the Internet to exploit children. The goal is to train 1,000 volunteer teachers who will then return to their own districts and train dozens of other faculty members. The curriculum covers cyber-bullying, the traits of sexual predators and how they behave online, and the potential dangers of social networking sites such as MySpace.com and Facebook.com. "There is no more important issue than protecting our children," said Gov. Jon Corzine, who joined Milgram and Davy in welcoming the teachers to the training. "The risks are very, very high." The program was developed this summer, at Corzine's direction, by Milgram and Davy in conjunction with a State Police task force on Internet crimes against children. The New Jersey Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, has endorsed the plan. Davy said children often lack the sophistication to figure out whether someone they meet on the Internet means them harm, but parents too often lack the technological knowledge to understand the dangers their children face. This program, along with the state Department of Education's Internet safety center on its Web site, is aimed at helping balance those deficiencies. "We want children to be safe consumers of new technology," Davy said. Michelle Collins of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, called the effort a "remarkable opportunity" that expands on smaller-scale Internet safety programs in Illinois, Missouri, Montana and Washington. The center's statistics show one in three teenagers who use the Internet say their parents knew almost nothing of their activities. Two out of the three teen Internet users reported having their own page, complete with a photo, on a social networking site while 14 percent said they met face to face with someone they had previously known only online. "We must teach our children to be cautious on the Internet and not presume their technological savvy will be enough to keep them out of harm's way," Milgram said. The attorney general recently issued a subpoena to Facebook and six other social networks seeking information on whether convicted New Jersey sex offenders have profiles. The subpoena is similar to one served on MySpace earlier this year, through which the state discovered 268 registered sex offenders with accounts on the site. Deborah Howlett may be reached at (609) 989-0273 or dhowlett@starledger.com. © 2007 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.