bNetS@vvy, a project of the National Educational Association Health Information Network, just published my article, Net Savvy Parenting in the New Year: Five Things You Need to Know in it Web site and newsletter.

And here are two more things you can watch for in 2009: 

More and more virtual worlds. There are more than 150 kids' and teens' virtual worlds live or soon-to-be live -- and all the videogame online services (Sony Home, Xbox Live, and Nintendo Wii's "Mii's") have avatars interacting in some semblance of virtual worlds.

This is a serious trend: fun and compelling, but -- as with anything online -- with a certain degree of risk. Look into what those avatars can look like and do --what state of dress (or undress) and what actions and communications they're allowed. My earlier post, Top 8 work-arounds of kid virtual-world users may also help you manage your children's virtual lives.

More and more mobile. This isn't news to you if your children have been hounding you for a cellphone. Everything on the Web is available on more and more phones. This includes social networking, blog posting, content uploading, media sharing, and video producing. Fortunately, all major cell phone carriers permit you to block Web access on phones.

But game consoles and media players are also connected to the Net. So whatever we online-safety advocates say about kids on the Web holds true for kids on just about any other connected device. More and more, wherever your kids go they may be in situations where your house rules don't apply.