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Nadine Wimmer ReportingMyspace.com is generating a lot of concern among parents. We learned tonight there are some partners now in the fight for internet safety.
We've been investigating how to help your family stay safe on internet chat sites. We learned, a Utah company offers free filters. And a growing number of Utah schools now block these sites.
Horrified looks came from parents attending an internet safety class, when they saw the explicit content on Myspace.com.
One mom discovered her 12-year-old had an account. We helped her download free filtering software from a Utah company. So now when she types in myspace, she's got more peace of mind.
Donna Jacobs/ Concerned Parent: "She might click on it out of curiosity, and there will be no satisfying her curiosity."
Blue Coat Webfilter services corporations, but employees decided they needed something for their own homes.
John Ahlander/ Blue Coat WebFilter: "So we created a software that would help our families and decided to give that out to the community as a free service."
Some parents supervise computer use at home, and worry what kids can access when they go to school. A growing number, including the state's largest districts, block internet chat sites altogether.
Dale Roberts/ Granite School District: "When they're in our schools, we feel we have the responsibility to look after them as minors, and to protect them as children."
The state is also in the process of expanding filtering options for schools. But administrators, who are also parents, caution, no filter does the job for you. Parents have to supervise.
Randy Ripplinger/ Granite School District: "If they go out and subscribe to an internet provider that says 'We filter' that they're safe, it just isn't so."
If you'd like to download the free filter, there's a link in the box at the top of this story. There are many other companies that offer filters where parents can customize or even track where their kids have been online.
