CTIA-The Wireless Association® and The Wireless Foundation® Join Insafe to Recognize Safer Internet Day on February 9th

Worldwide effort to remind children and young adults to “Think B4 U Post!”

WASHINGTON, DC – As part of a worldwide effort to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile devices among youth, CTIA-The Wireless Association® and The Wireless Foundation® will join more than 60 countries to recognize Insafe’s 7th Annual Safer Internet Day on Tuesday, February 9th.  This year’s theme, “Think B4 U Post!” is focused on educating and empowering children and teenagers to manage their online identity, including safe and sensible publishing of pictures and videos.  

“Every year, Safer Internet Day is a great reminder for parents to sit down and talk with their children about the importance of online safety and responsible mobile device usage.  Our industry remains committed to helping parents by providing them with the necessary information and simple tips on our Web site to help with that conversation and keep their children safe, educated, and smart when using their devices and mobile Internet,” said Steve Largent, president and CEO of CTIA-The Wireless Association and president of The Wireless Foundation. 

CTIA, The Wireless Foundation, and our member companies have developed a number of wireless online safety initiatives and partnerships to educate and equip parents with the resources they need to keep their kids safe in a mobile environment.

Together with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), CTIA and representatives from the wireless industry have created the Wireless Child Safety Task Force, whose mission is to help keep wireless devices and services free of child pornography.  To accomplish this goal, wireless companies have continued to prohibit Web sites believed to contain child pornography from being hosted on their servers.  The Task Force, announced in 2008, has been working to identify, review, and support actions to further deter child pornography on wireless networks and services.  This has included the exploration of solutions that can be lawfully executed while safeguarding consumer privacy.

In addition:

• Get Wise About Wireless:  Developed by The Wireless Foundation in partnership with ConnectSafely.org and the Weekly Reader Corporation, this program helps students learn how to respond to digital bullies by behaving safely and practicing proper cell phone etiquette.  Program materials, including a student mini-magazine, teacher’s guide, and parent take-home pamphlet, are distributed each year to thousands of schools across the country as a free public service.
• SAFETY Tips:  Using the word “SAFETY” as an easy-to-remember acronym, CTIA created six simple SAFETY Tips for parents to start the discussion with their kids about their behavior in a mobile environment. 
• Wireless Online Safety:  Maintained by The Wireless Foundation, this is an online information resource center for parents and educators to help keep children safe in a mobile environment.  Resources include a parent-child agreement on acceptable uses of a wireless device, a list of parental tools offered by wireless carriers, as well as other helpful information.  

Visit http://www.saferinternet.org/ to learn more about Safer Internet Day 2010.  For more information on keeping your kids safe in a mobile environment, please visit http://www.wirelessfoundation.org/.  
 

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CTIA-The Wireless Association® (www.ctia.org) is an international organization representing the wireless communications industry. Membership in the association includes wireless carriers and their suppliers, as well as providers and manufacturers of wireless data services and products. CTIA advocates on behalf of its members at all levels of government. The association also coordinates the industry’s voluntary best practices and initiatives, and sponsors the leading North American wireless trade shows. CTIA was founded in 1984 and is based in Washington, DC.