Increased Safety for Halloween Trick Or Treating In Your Neighborhood

Sex offenders on probation or parole in various cities and states are banned from Halloween costume parties this year and aren't allowed to put up decorations like jack-o-lanterns that might attract youngsters.

New state guidelines in Tennessee are meant to clarify policies that prevent offenders from interacting with children, said Board of Probation and Parole spokesman Jack Elder, and were not enacted in response to any specific problems the board has seen during the Halloween season.

Meanwhile, New York issued similar Halloween restrictions for sex offenders this year and imposed a 3 p.m. to 6 a.m. Halloween curfew on them. Sex offenders in Lima, Ohio, and Gaston County, North Carolina, were ordered to attend meetings with authorities that coincide with the prime hours for trick-or-treating.

Maryland has told sex offenders on parole or probation to keep their porch lights turned off Tuesday night. In addition, Baltimore County will pay about 20 plainclothes officers overtime to work the streets and look for sex offenders who have contact with children other than their own, said county police Cpl. Michael Hill.

The Tennessee restrictions prohibit sex offenders from attending special Halloween events like corn field mazes and haunted houses, handing out treats, displaying Halloween decorations, accompanying trick-or-treating children or wearing costumes.

Click here to read more.

For more tips for safe trick or treating, click here, here and here.

Who Are Your Kids Chatting With Online?

Do you really know who you're kids are talking with online? When they chat or email with "friends", are those friends really who they say they are?

In a recent study, 40% of 15-24 year olds said they have met someone in person that they first met online, particularly from places like MySpace, Facebook and others. In addition, a recent report states that one third of Internet users between the ages of 10-17 are exposed to unwanted sexual material online. The famous New Yorker cartoon in 1993 is just as true today as it was then: "On the Internet, nobody knows you are a dog."

Safekeeper helps you know more about who your kids are talking with online through chat monitor reports and much more. Help prevent your kids from talking to "friends" that are really dogs.

Keep your kids safe online through Safekeeper.

SAFEKEEPER Help Parents Combat Internet Dangers

When everyone seems to be worried about the online threats, they look forward to the kind of solution that is easy to install, easy to use, fully customizable, and works automatically and most importantly giving peace of mind to the parents who are faced with keeping their children safe online. So here comes the SAFEKEEPER to get the parents rid of all that worries.

According to the research, one out of five children who make their entrance in online chat rooms come within reach of pedophiles. News stories regarding children who were enamored by Internet marauder come out approximately weekly. Even the parents who remain most watchful frequently are not having any idea of their children online activities.

The world of internet is consisted with unparalleled access - however at a scary price. Getting online unbolt the door of your home to perilous people and nasty content. The standalone complete solution SAFEKEEPER is produced by Third Gear. This is the one-and-only software program to integrate the greatest parental controls available in single package. SAFEKEEPER offers these exclusive, innovative features:

Click here for more on Safekeeper or download the press release here.

Online Child Safety Advocate Katie Tarbox Endorses Safekeeper

A leading advocate for Internet safety, Katie Tarbox was an early victim of an online sex predator.

Her story has been told on the Oprah Winfrey show, Court TV, YM Magazine, Time magazine, CNN and USA Today, among many others.

"Parents are accountable to their children. Talk with them. And now, with SAFEKEEPER's total online protection, parents have the best Internet security available."

Family Watchdog Looks Out For Your Family; On O'Reilly Factor October 26

Seeing the face of a known pedophile puts instant chills in every parent.

Protecting our children has been a major issue across the country over the past two decades. Terrible stories of child abductions, sexual abuse by pedophiles (and worse) and Amber Alerts seem to always be in the news. Everday, parent advocates whose children have been harmed and victimized work on preventing future attacks and helping others stay more alert to keep kids safe.

One of Safekeeper's partners -- Family Watchdog -- will be featured tonight on the Fox News channel's The O'Reilly Factor. Family Watchdog gives parents a powerful tool to help protect their kids while online and is one of several components included in the new software suite of products called Safekeeper.

Family Watchdog accesses the Registered Sexual Offender databases for every state in the U.S., alerting you when a sexual offender moves into your neighborhood through weekly emailed reports. You can also select just the photos of predators in the area for a quick glance of faces you need to know in your area.

One person who suggests using Family Watchdog is Oprah Winfrey. Oprah made it her mission to educate parents and protect kids from sexual offenders, getting her viewers to track and help re-arrest offenders in hiding. And she continues her efforts.

In other stories over the last year...

* NBC Dateline's "To Catch A Predator" lived up to its show title, catching men across the country hoping to get sexual boys they believed they found through IM chat rooms.

* Then there was the crazy story of John Mark Karr and his connection with the Jon Benet Ramsey murder.

* And last month, it was discovered Republican Congressman John Foley used sexually-explicit IM text messages with underage male congressional pages...a clear abuse of power.

While new laws and media initiatives have helped increase levels of awareness of the problem, children still need protection. Especially because of the dangers found on the Internet.

Safekeeper -- powered by Family Watchdog and many other computer protection programs to keep your kids safe online -- gives parents a powerful tool for their own neighborhood watch programs.

Watch tonight's O'Reilly Factor to learn more about Family Watchdog...part of Safekeeper's suite of software tools to keep your family safe online.

To view Safekeeper, click here.

To download and activate a free trial of Safekeeper, click here.

MySpace Launches Internet Safety Campaign

Parents concerned about MySpace may know the popular social community website kicked off a campaign to promote safety on the Web, after coming under fire for police investigations of sexual predators on the site earlier this year.

The campaign has components targeting parents, teachers and teens, distributing a Parents Guide to Internet Safety, a School Administrator's Guide to Internet Safety, and tips for teens distributed on Seventeen magazine editor Atoosa Rubenstein's MySpace page.

Of course, if you just want to block your child's access to MySpace (and other similar sites like Nexopia, Facebook and others), all you need is Safekeeper.

IM Misconduct: What Not To Do

Instant Messaging is one of the most popular forms of online communication. While many use IM to chat with known friends, it is also used for anonomous conversation between strangers.

Last month's Mark Foley controversy over IM chats with underage congressionals pages is an important reminder for parents to be aware with whos your child IMs. This AOL article today discusses more about Instant Message misconduct:

When it comes to instant messaging in the workplace, credit former Florida Congressman Mark Foley with being the poster boy for bad judgment.

The recent hoopla surrounding Foley's sexually explicit text communications with teenage congressional pages led to his abrupt resignation. The continuing fallout also threatens to cost his Republican Party the House and Senate majorities following the upcoming mid-term elections.

Foley's case may be an extreme one, but it's hardly the first misuse of instant messaging since the technology hit the workplace in recent years. "The most important thing, whether it's e-mail or instant messaging, is that the technology gives you a chance to communicate before you think," says Rita Kirk, professor of communications at Southern Methodist University.

The recent crop of grads, those born in the early 1980s, aka Generation Y, has marched boldly into the workforce over the past four years. They've brought with them a set of technological tools that makes fax machines, voice mail and spreadsheet software look positively quaint. They've grown up with scanning, text messaging and Googling, and they're not about to stop once they've hit the working world.

Safekeeper provides daily reports of your kid's IM activities on your home computer.

Safekeeper Protects Your PC

Welcome to the weblog for a brand new product for your PC called Safekeeper -- an award-winning Windows-based computer application designed to protect your family when they are online.

In the days and weeks ahead, we will add posts and articles related to helping keep your children safe online, including tips and your comments to help you stay alert and stay involved.

Right now, 77% of parents have no rules about how their children use their computer, including who they chat with online.

Meanwhile, 49% of teenagers admit to doing things online they don't want their parents to know about.

Feds net 125 nationwide in kid-porn case

A Bible camp counselor and a Boy Scout leader were among 125 people arrested nationwide in an Internet child pornography case in which subscribers purchased photos and videos of children engaged in sex acts with adults, federal authorities said Wednesday. The case originated in New Jersey, but quickly spread to 22 states. The defendants were charged with either possession or receipt of child pornography. Additional arrests are expected.

According to the Associated Press:

Prosecutors said the Web site alerted subscribers that its content was illegal and urged them to be discreet about their purchases."When I say 'hard-core' pornography, I am talking about child pornography that includes images of children as young as six months involved in bondage and sodomy," U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said. "This type of depraved conduct is something a civilized society cannot tolerate."

Christie said none of the defendants appeared in any of the images they obtained from the Web site. He would not identify the Web site or say whether it is still in operation.

Among those arrested were a Bible camp counselor from Vancouver, Wash.; a Boy Scout leader from Mission, Texas; and a pharmaceutical researcher in New Jersey.

Several of those arrested nationwide have prior records for molesting or sexually assaulting children, officials said.

For more, read here

Safekeeper can help keep your family and computer safe from online child pornography.

What Is Safekeeper?

Safekeeper computer protections is a new application available now to protect your family as well as your home computer from unwanted threats.

This video explains more: Safekeeper demo

Safekeeper