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Press
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THE NETSMARTZ WORKSHOP LAUNCHES “UYN” TO HELP CHILDREN
REMEMBER ONLINE SAFETY
Disney Star Alyson Stoner Featured in “Use Your NetSmartz”
PSA
ALEXANDRIA, VA – October 4, 2005 – The NetSmartz
Workshop, an interactive, educational safety resource that enhances the
ability of children to recognize dangers on the Internet, announced the
launch of a new initiative designed to provide children with a fun, easy
way to remember rules for online safety automatically.
The initiative features the central theme “Use Your NetSmartz,”
or “UYN” in chat lingo. UYN provides children – as well
as parents, educators, and law enforcement – with a simple, easy-to-remember
abbreviation that embraces all the basic elements of Internet safety.
NetSmartz, a program of the National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children® (NCMEC) and Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), has
created a full complement of UYN-focused cartoon shorts, games, and Public-Service
Announcements (PSA) to educate children. UYN is a highly visible, audible,
and memorable way to address both Internet safety and security. NetSmartz
content is available for free online at www.NetSmartz.org and at www.NetSmartzKids.org.
“The new NetSmartz chat abbreviation, UYN, now gives children a
touchstone with which they can associate all the rules of Internet safety
and security,” said Rick Minicucci, president of NetSmartz. “In
addition, UYN provides parents, guardians, and teachers with a functional
slogan they can use to unify everything they teach children about online
safety.”
UYN games and cartoons will be available in a new section on NetSmartzKids.org
to help kids become conscious of potential online dangers, as well as
provide them with the necessary skills to know what to do if they encounter
them. Important messages like tell a trusted adult, don’t give out
your personal information, and don’t meet offline are reiterated.
Online games include “Don’t Open That File: A Computer Virus
Game,” “The Password Rap: An Internet Privacy Game,”
and others.
UYN online cartoons include short features such as “The Boy Who
Loved IM: A Lesson in Instant Messaging” and “The NetSmartz
Chat Abbreviation: A Lesson in Personal Safety” featuring 12-year-old
actress Alyson Stoner, star of “Mike’s Super Short Show”
on the Disney Channel.
“I’m honored to help spread the word of Internet safety with
the NetSmartz team,” said Alyson Stoner. “Hopefully, through
catchy music, kids of all ages will pay more attention and understand
the dangers that exist when they are online.”
Stoner and a NetSmartz cartoon character, Clicky, will appear in UYN
PSAs, including a 30-second PSA that will air on the Cox, Comcast, and
Time Warner cable networks.
For more information about UYN, please visit www.NetSmartz.org.
About the NetSmartz Workshop™
The NetSmartz Workshop is an interactive, educational safety resource
from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® (NCMEC)
and Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) that uses age-appropriate,
3-D activities to teach children and teens how to be safer when using
the Internet. NetSmartz uses the latest technology to create high-impact
educational activities that are well received by even the most tech-savvy
kids of any age group. The NetSmartz Workshop content is available at
no charge to the public at www.NetSmartz.org and www.NetSmartzKids.org.
CONTACT:
Communications Department
NCMEC/NetSmartz Workshop
703-837-6111
media@ncmec.org
Kelly Collis Fredrick
DBC Public Relations for NetSmartz Workshop
202-298-8045
kelly@dbcpr.com
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