Tampa-area Library Mandates Internet Safety Program for Minors
Jennifer Pinkowski -- Library Journal, 10/3/2007
Many public library web sites link to the NetSmartz Internet Safety program, a computer-based interactive workshop created in 2002 by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to teach tweens and teens how to surf wisely. But the Tampa-Hllsborough County Public Library System may be the first to require under-17 patrons to complete the 20-minute training course before they’re allowed to go online. As of October 1, completing NetSmartz is a must for children in all 25 branches of the library. “We decided it was worth it that all of our libraries remain a safe place for kids,” said HCPLC spokesman Braulio Colón.The new policy makes mandatory a voluntary program launched last summer, when the library system and the Hillsborough County Public Schools teamed up to encourage children to complete the NetSmartz workshop. The 2800 children who did were given free admission to Tampa-area sites such as the Florida Aquarium and the Lowry Park Zoo. Those incentives—plus a chance to win tickets to a Tampa Bay Buccaneers football game—remain as carrots accompanying the mandatory program. Parents can sign a waiver to allow their children to go online without taking the course. Neither Colón nor Laurie Nathan, a spokeswoman for the NCMEC, knew of any other libraries that require minors to take the NetSmartz workshop. One of many Internet-safety programs, NetSmartz is often distributed through state education departments or school systems, so NCMEC can’t reliably track the use of NetSmartz in public libraries. “But we are in all 50 states in some capacity,” Nathan said.
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