Did You Know...

04-17-08 Mother Nature continues to want to extend the Winter season here in the Vernonia area and the rest of the Pacific Northwest with another round of snow and ice. Both Oregon and Washington extended the use of studded tires until April 5th. Normally the deadline to remove the studded tires is April 1st. Make sure you have your studded tires removed or you could be subject to a $145 fine according to ORS 815.160. I have done previous articles and talked at length on Internet Safety for both children and adults. I even assisted Representative Brad Witt with his work on HB3515 which made it a crime for predators to solicit a minor on the Internet. The Oregon Attorney General's office released some more good news recently when they announced a nationwide agreement with MySpace to better protect children on the very popular web site including the creation of a broad-based task force to explore and develop age and identity verification technology. Beside developing on-line identity authentication tools, other specific changes and policies include: allowing parents to submit their child's email addresses so MySpace can prevent anyone from using those email addresses from setting up profiles, making default setting "private" for profiles of 16 and 17yr olds, promising to respond within 72hrs to inappropriate content complaints, and committing more staff and/or resources to review and classify photographs, discussion groups, eliminate links to pornographic web sites, and making it more diffucult for adults to contact children. The State of Oregon was one of the first states to respond to reports that registered sex offenders were using MySpace to contact potential victims. Remember that there are numerous web sites similar to MySpace that can be potential safety hazards for both children and adults. As a responsible parent/adult we must take an active role in our children's lives by educating them of the dangers on the Internet as well as being aggressive in monitoring your child's on-line activities, accounts, and who they are connecting with.