February 2006 Newsletter

Internet Safety and the Kidz Safety Education Group's much-anticipated New Children’s Program

Criminals, scam artists and most significantly, child molesters and predators are now hi-tech and computer savvy, breaking our most sacred safety barriers daily in our own homes! Every child and adult is a target and extremely vulnerable to the hundreds of thousands of unwanted solicitations on the internet -- if without important safety strategies and safeguards. We adults receive fear-evoking e-mails allegedly from our banks, paypal, etc., telling us to go via a provided link to the respective website for security purposes to check accounts, change passwords, etc. This allows the scammers/criminals to access our accounts by phishing and gives them entry into what we thought was secure and protected.

These individuals are masterful at counterfeiting websites, blogs and anything else necessary to fool the most trained eye and savvy, literate computer user.

Thousands of single women using dating websites literally have NO idea who they are communicating with. Many married men now trawl the internet club/bar scene! Safety tip: Once you move from e-mail to phone, use only your cell phone until you reach a level of safety comfort. Take it slowly and safely before divulging too much personal information too fast. Most websites will give you the important do’s and don’ts about internet dating. Take time to read and follow them!

We all get spammed so much every day. Ironically I almost wish for the “good old days” of paper “junk mail.”

Remember to always safeguard yourself and simply DELETE (NEVER open) any unfamiliar or suspicious emails. Always trust your gut feeling/instincts, even on the internet. Never give out any personal information or pictures whereby someone you don’t know could trace you to where you live, work, go to school, shop, frequent, etc. Too little information divulged is always the best policy.

Internet safety for our children is not only critical, it’s ESSENTIAL!

Dateline MSNBC ran a 3-week special recently on internet predators, which proved both alarming and eye-opening. A sting operation in California with the Riverside Sheriff’s Department had staff members posing as 12-year-old girls and boys, including pictures of themselves on chatrooms. Over a 3-day period, 51 men (ages 18-70’s) came to an alleged 12-year old’s home, after having shared explicit and inappropriate e-mails, phone calls and photos to have sex! All were men (no women) from all income brackets, ethnicities, and backgrounds, including a rabbi, a teacher, retiree, registered sex offender, men on parole, married men, single men, etc.

The fact is that there is NO single predator profile that makes them stand out, except that they are almost always male, and they can be anyone.

The internet literally puts the world at our fingertips, and is one of the greatest single technological advancements and tools we have today. However, its “dark side” gives an ease and accessibility into our personal lives, our homes and more importantly, to our children, in unprecedented ways and at epidemic proportions. Children innocently use and frequent websites like www.myspace.com, www.xanga.com, etc. They get into chatrooms and e-mail daily from within our own homes, much of the time doing things we’re not even remotely aware of! They are communicating personal and intimate information and life details with TOTAL strangers, some of whom are child molesters and predators.

• 80% of teens online are not as careful as they should be in giving out personal information


• 64% of all teens say they do things on the internet they would not want their parents to know about


• 30% have met an “internet friend”, and have been asked to either keep their internet friend a secret, or actually gone to meet the stranger face-to-face


• 40% trust the people they chat with on the internet

Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project, 11/04 and other studies on children 12-17

It is our duty and responsibility to safeguard our children to the max. We first need to educate ourselves and become less intimidated by this technology. We need to be pro-active communicating with our children, monitoring their internet usage, including instant messaging (IM-ing), e-mails, websites, chat rooms and internet “friends.” In creating our KSEG (Kidz Safety Education Group) program, we became acutely aware of the need for computer/internet safety education and made it an important segment.

The response to our pre-launch national kidz safety program (Launch date: March 1, 2006) has been incredible! Our program, aimed at ages 4-11 and 12-17, contains age-appropriate safety awareness information and training designed in fun and easily-learned modules. The children absorb and incorporate the safety strategies effortlessly and quickly.

Ineffective “stranger/danger” emphasis has been replaced with the latest and best ways to educate children in a ‘learn by doing/experiencing’ format based on extensive study and research by leading experts in the field and the most advanced learning technologies.

The heart and soul of our program is our 'Safe Kidz Kit' (visit our Product Page for information on this kit and our other products).

The kit includes four important internet software programs to help protect your children, allowing you to monitor, screen, track and block your child’s internet usage and decode internet language. Also included is the ‘Internet Safety Code’ contract, with clearly defined safety rules for both parents and children to make the family internet experience both fun and rewarding.

The complete 'Safe Kidz Kit' with all of its modules is valued at $99.50, but is available at the seminar for a small investment of only $39.50. (We also have adult and pet 2-disk ID kits available for only $24.50)

An absolute must for every child!

We thank the scores of WSEG (Women’s Safety Education Group) graduates, who encouraged us to develop this important children’s program. Many of you have been patiently waiting for this program. It’s now available and extremely affordable for families of all sizes (and class tuition counts toward any product purchase!). It’s designed for groups of 20 or more children in both a “hostess” or “fundraising” format for your school, church, PTA, girl/boy scout group or other organization.

For more details on the program, the 'Safe Kidz Kit' and how to arrange for a program for your organization, or join one in your area, please visit our website at http://www.kseg.org/ or call us at 1-800-318-8037.

Written by Mark C. Spencer, M.A., S.A.F.E.

© Copyright 2006 S.A.F.E. All rights reserved.