EU Makes Net Safer For Kids

A new four-year program will target both inappropriate content and cyber bullying.

The EU has committed to a four-year, $84 million program intended to make the Internet safer for kids.                              It will build on theSafer Internet Program, which began in 2000, and will spend the money helping to protect children from cyber bullyingand inappropriate content.   In a statement, EC President Jose Barroso said,   "As more and more European children and adolescents use online technologies at home or at school, they,their parents and their teachers need to be informed about the opportunities and risks they face."   The program will begin next year and run until 2013. It will include some very specificobjectives, including support groups for both parents and children regarding safe Internet use, a forum for sharing advice and thoughts, and the establishment of contact points in each EU nation,where attempts at groom and illegal content can be reported.