Children's online safety issues are complex; they have aroused passionate emotions among individuals and galvanized unwavering political responses. The purpose of this addendum to the National School Boards Foundation's Safe & Smart project is to help parents and schoolteachers better understand children's online media with respect to government regulation and self-regulation trends among companies designing products and services for young people. Admittedly, proposed legislation and business initiatives can be difficult to track and challenging to characterize because of their constantly shifting nature. Nevertheless, the goals of this supplement are the following: 1) provide a snapshot of children's online safety issues; 2) highlight trends within the children's media industry intended to address these issues; 3) discuss their regulatory implications in terms of Congressional legislation, federal agency rulemakings and industry self-regulatory practices; and 4) present an annotated, hyperlinked list of resources where readers may find additional information.

Overview of Children's Online Safety Issues

Trends Within the Children's Online Industry

Filtering on Home PCs
Industry Content Ratings
Privacy Ratings
Kids-Only Spaces and Portals
Identifying Advertising
Electronic Commerce for Kids