Internet Safety Is All a Big Game

The ESA is trying to teach Internet safety to schoolchildren using a game where players track down an Internet predator.

What could be more fun than learning about Internet safety? A lot of things, probably, but it seems be a be a major issue for the latest generation of Internet-savvy youngsters. The Entertainment Software Association’s ESA Foundation is doing its best to make Internet safety fun by teaching kids about it through their medium of choice – games.

Children in Citrus Heights Elementary School in California will soon be receiving their copies of Missing as part of a packet the ESA is distributing with material on staying safe on the Web. The game is about the fictional story of Zack, a Vancouver child who forms a friendship with an online character known only as Fantasma. When Zack receives an invitation from Fantasma to visit him in California, he takes it up and consequently goes missing. The goal of the game is to track down Zack and arrest Fantasma.

"June is Internet Safety Month, and we are pleased to be part of a program that will help kids recognize the warning signs of danger in the digital age. We look forward to helping Web Wise Kids protect children and seeing online predators brought to justice," said ESA president Michael D. Gallagher, in a statement. "Games can be powerful teaching tools and we are honored to support projects like this that use games to teach, educate, and prepare kids to succeed in the real world game of life."