Parents should keep an eye on children, say experts

IN A STARTLING turn of events, internet experts are saying that parents should take responsibility for their children and check what they are getting up to online, familiarising themselves with sites like MySpace and YouTube, reports The Australian .

A new website, titled "Think U Know" presumably to fit in with the all-too-common web spelngz tht r like ths, is a new Aussie national initiative to offer children protection online, supposedly ensuring that they are not at risk of exploitation or one step away from giving private details out. The site will mirror the UK version.

Microsoft, the Virtual Global Taskforce and Aussie government advisory body NetAlert are all teaming up for the website. Director of NetAlert Kevin Zuccato reckons that sites like MySpace and YouTube are "the new websites that children are inhabiting and using as their playground."

Kev goes on to say that the Think U Know website will hopefully encourage communication between the parents and the children regarding web activities. To "demystify the internet to mum and dad,to get them to understand that children are actually playing in an environment that mirrors almost identically with the real world." µ