Digital Divide
Recent surveys from i-SAFE's National Assessment Center (NAC) reveal a significant digital divide between parents and children when it comes to knowledge and communication about the Internet.

• 54 percent of parents feel their ability to shelter their children from inappropriate material on the Internet is limited.
• 29 percent of students say their parent or guardian would disapprove if they knew what they did, where they went, or with whom they chatted online.
• 87 percent of parents say they have established rules for their children's Internet usage.
• 36 percent of students say their parents have not established rules for their Internet usage.

Illegal Downloading
Your most valuable possession is free—there's no price tag on your thoughts. But, a recent U.S. Chamber of Commerce report said that each year American businesses lost $250 billion to copyright piracy and 750,000 jobs because of intellectual-property theft! Illegal downloading, also known as online piracy, is the unlawful copying of materials protected by intellectual-property law. Making a copy of a computer program for a friend and downloading a song or movie without permission or payment are examples of piracy. As a parent, you've probably already heard your children talk about "file-sharing," "downloading," or "P2P" (peer to peer). These are all means to illegally obtain copyrighted materials. It is against the law!

i-SAFE's National Assessment Center (NAC) surveyed more than 36,000 students on this topic and revealed significant behaviors and attitudes:

• 68 percent have been told what is legal and illegal to download on the Internet.
• 46 percent believe nobody is harmed or loses money if they download music without paying for it.
• 65 percent believe they should NOT be charged to download music or movies from the Internet.

So how does one person downloading for free parlay into a $250 billion annual loss? Each downloader needs to understand the consequences.

You can see that it's important to put an end to illegal downloading.
What is being done to positively change these behaviors and attitudes?

• The music industry's antipiracy initiatives have made an impact on attitudes, practices, cultural norms, awareness, and the business climate for legal services.
• Educational initiatives from organizations like i-SAFE are making an impact: 80 percent of the students polled after completing the i-SAFE program said they were going to be more careful about downloading music from the Internet.

Find out what you can do to help. Download the pamphlet “Young People, Music, & The Internet” in the “Downloads” section for more information on P2P file-sharing. And visit http://musicunited.org for more information on this topic.

Total Access
Internet access is available for nearly every child, whether at home, at school, in the library, or elsewhere throughout the community. It is obvious that parents need support in educating and protecting their children from online dangers. i-SAFE materials provide parents easy access to Internet safety materials that help bridge the digital divide and equip them for the challenges of parenting in the Digital Age.

Get the NAC
i-SAFE's National Assessment Center (NAC) surveys students and parents on many aspects concerning various issues found on the Internet. The NAC results are used to shape the i-SAFE curriculum as well as enlighten the general public about what is really going on in the cyber world.

Take our Parent Survey online.

Get Involved
Education isn't enough. Parents, teachers, and the community at large need to be informed of the issues so they can take an active role in prevention.

• Check out our glossary to brush up on your chat vocabulary.
• If you need immediate help, our tip sheets will get you going for now.

Not an Expert?
We don't expect you to be. That is why Verizon and i-SAFE have teamed up to provide you this Web site as well as access to online training and material. Listen to some advice from actor Kelsey Grammer.