They've got mail; you've got trouble! That's a given if you're the parent of one of the millions of pre-teens and teens that are off creating their Facebook or Myspace pages, downloading tunes and movies, or IMing the friends they saw in school just a few hours ago. Parents everywhere are struggling to get hip in a hurry.

Up to date information is hard to find, and parental guidance websites also vary based a site's ideological orientation, but these sites will all arm with you plenty of information on multiple fronts.

Best Up-to-Date Sites To Keep Kids Safe Online

 

Wired Kids
One of the most comprehensive sites Internet Safety for parents, kids and educators. Parry Aftab, a cyber lawyer, runs this site and created an organization called TeenAngels. She trains teens to train other teens about how to avoid trouble on the Net.

SafeKids
Written by Larry Magid, a syndicated columnist. You’ll also find teen specific advice at a site called SafeTeens and a new site called BlogSafety that deals with social networking.

Isafe
Funded by the Department of Justice, I-Safe America creates classroom curriculum and community outreach programs and programs for schools, parents and kids. There's a great monthly newsletter and lots of video available from the website.

Kid Safety and Education

NetSmartz
NetSmartz was created by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and has partnered with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA). It is one of the oldest and most comprehensive guides to Internet Safety.

GetNetWise
Looking for a specific safety tool? This is the resource. Getnetwise represents the collective work of a number of government and private groups working to protect kids.

Understanding Piracy

StaySafeOnline
Learn how to protect personal and private information, with sections for parents and kids.

Piracy Test
Created by the Business Software Alliance; find out your Software Piracy IQ.

Respect Copyright
Created by the Motion Picture Association of America, this site has a tool parents can use to scan their childrens’ disks for multimedia files.

For School Curriculum

CyberSmart
An in-school curriculum created for students grades K-12 dealing with all aspects of responsible internet use. Chapters are available as PDF files.

To Be a More Informed Consumer

ConsumerWebWatch
Consumer Reports’ foundation that explores and reports on current internet attitudes and problems.

Responsible Netizen Online Documents inform you of dangers and responsibilities in the online world.

Electronic Frontier Foundation
Covers issues defending free speech, privacy, innovation and consumer rights in a digital world.

To Keep Up to Date on Virus and Securtiy Issue

SANS
SANS Institute - Computer security issues reviewed.

To Prevent Computer Crimes

CyberTipline
A site run by the National Association for Missing and Exploiting Children offering basic information offering a place to report serious acts involving missing children and predatory acts.

CyberCrime
Information about computer crimes and how to avoid them.

FTC
The Federal Trade Commission offers a place to learn about computer fraud, identity theft, privacy and also to report instances and problems.