And, there are vastly more children online that deserve protection. More children are surfing the Net at home and school than ever before. Once online, these children find a wealth of valuable, educational and entertaining content. But, as you know, not all online content is meant for kids. Exploited Children estimates that 25 percent of children are exposed to unwanted and inappropriate content online.
Educators are well aware of the dangers.
Almost all of America's K-12 schools have Internet access, many directly in the classroom and of these, about 60 percent of schools already use some sort of filtering device, according to Quality Education Data. In deciding to use filtering technology to safeguard kids, educators have parents squarely behind them. A 2000 Digital Media Forum survey found that 92 percent of Americans thought pornography should be blocked on school computers. A Middle and High School Computer Lab Director at Silver Creek Central School District in New York was recently quoted in the press talking about the schools' wake-up call, and why it decided to buy and install filtering software. Students were visiting sexually explicit sites, gambling, applying for credit cards, buying products with their parents' credit cards, sending for free stuff and talking to strangers via chat rooms.