Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY -- Kids incorporate technology into their lives at light speed, so the state of Utah wants parents to have the tools they need to keep their children safe online. On Wednesday the state introduced a new program now available to Utah parents at no cost.
The program is called Wired With Wisdom. It gives parents a place to go online to learn what they need to know to manage their family's Internet experience without getting overwhelmed.
43% of youth were victims of cyberbullying in the last year. Cyberbullying is most prevalent among 15- and 16-year-olds, particularly among girls.
Karl Cheney, of Bountiful, has four children--ages 13 to 21. He considers himself tech savvy but knows his kids may be way ahead of him in some areas.
"We actually have house rules posted by the computers," Cheney said.
At first look, he liked the program and one-stop shopping for answers.
"The industry changes and evolves every day. To keep up with that is next to impossible," Cheney said.
On Wednesday, Utah's attorney general and legislative leaders launched Wired with Wisdom. It tackles issues like e-mail safety, personal websites, social networking, cyber-bullying and how to avoid online predators.
"This program is a tool for parents to equip themselves to find out what their kids are doing online, what kind of things are happening online; getting up to speed with the terms their kids are using," explained Judi Westberg-Warren, president of Web Wise Kids.
The program is one way to get parents and kids speaking the same language about the dangers online, but it's also a way to get them engaged in conversations about solutions.
This program gives parents confidence to deal with that.
"Take the effort and the time. Invest those few minutes with your family. Understand [and] use these tools, and they will pay dividends," said Utah House Speaker David Clark.
This program is available to all Utah parents at no cost. Visit www.webwisekids.org/WWW-UT and enter the password after you register: wise. You can access the program any time, any where.
