Teen summit on internet safety

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America’s Most Wanted host John Walsh will host the National Teen Summit on Internet Safety, June 15 in Washington D.C.  Atlanta social media expert James Andrews will join Walsh to meet with teens from across the country.  They’ll be talking about cyberbullying, sexting and the impact of social media on digital reputation. Cox Communications, based in Atlanta, sponsors the annual event with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.  Cox will stream the Summit live online starting at 9:30am.  Here’s how to watch the event and join in the conversation:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/coxteensummit

Experts will field questions from twitter hash tag:  #cox4teensafety

A new survey shows 50 percent of teens have posted a fake age online and 38 percent have used social media to befriend people they don’t know. Click here for more information

James Andrews is co-founder of Everywhere, specializing in social media strategies.  Jane Fonda calls him her social media maestro. He orchestrated the live stream of World Fitness Day in May. John Walsh has hosted America's Most Wanted for 22 years.  He became a crime expert and child safety advocate after his own son, Adam Walsh, was kidnapped and murdered in Florida in 1981.  He lobbied for the  Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act in 2006, which created a national sex offender registry.

Child porn, sexting and online crimes

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On June 16, 2010, at 2 p.m. E.T., the Office of Justice Programs’ Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) will host a Web Forum on preventing child victimization using high tech devices, including the internet and cell phones.  The session is expected to cover topics such as child pornography, sexting and cyber bullying. 

The 1-hour session, which is cosponsored by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, will be led by Laurie Nathan, who manages national outreach and partnerships for the NetSmartz Workshop, an educational program of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.    For further information and instructions on how to participate, visit the OVC Web Forum

–Photo courtesy of  www.flickr.com/photos/angelshupe

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New ban on texting while driving

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New laws targeting teens and distracted driving go into effect July 1.  No more texting behind the wheel.  Teens with provisional licenses can’t use a cell phone at all. Governor Perdue signed SB 360, better known as "Caleb’s Law", Friday, despite reservations about how it’s going to be enforced.  And the law isn’t just for teens.  Police will be on the lookout for any driver reading, writing or sending emails. SB360 is named after a Dahlonega teen who crashed and died while texting and driving last December. WSAV reports teen drivers caught texting or talking on the phone face a $150 fine, which doubles if they have an accident.   Despite reservations about how “Caleb’s Law” will be enforced, Gov. Perdue states in a press release that “We need to do everything possible to focus young drivers on the road ahead.” The Atlanta Journal Constitution says the legislature plans to revisit the texting law next year to clarify parts of it.

Teen bleach attack: prank or crime?

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Four teenage boys are now in custody for throwing a balloon filled with bleach at a 14 year old boy.  Miguel Mesa, who just finished 7th grade in Lilburn, was walking home from school when the bleach hit him in the face, nearly blinding him.  He may have permanent eye damage.  The four suspects are all Meadowcreek High School students in Gwinnett County.  Police say one of them used a Super Soaker water gun to spray even more bleach on the victim.  As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, the teens told investigators they were only trying to ruin the boy’s clothes. The case is generating strong debate.  Was it an end of year prank carried out by boys who didn’t know the dangers of bleach?  Or was it a heinous crime?  Columnist Maureen Downey calls it a senseless act that deserves punishment, and about 50 of her readers agree.

They Call Me "Sirr"

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He was all but abandoned by his parents and raised in poverty by his grandparents, gang-involved cousins and other relatives in South Los Angeles.  But Sirr Parker persevered against terrible odds, and flourished as a nearly straight-A student.  And his record on the high school football team earned him a football scholarship to Texas A&M. The movie inspired by his improbable story, "They Call Me Sirr," made its broadcast debut in 2001, six years after the former homecoming king graduated from Locke High School. How about this for a sequel: Parker, a college graduate, makes good on a high school vow to return to his roots to mentor at-risk kids facing the same type of hurdles?  It's playing out in real life at Los Padrinos Juvenile Detention Center in Downey, a kind of way station for youths in trouble where Parker works as a detention service officer. Sirr Parker shares his childhood and his lifelong dream of helping other children with the Los Angeles Times

Sexting Laws: Are They Too Tough on Teens?

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Two 14-year olds at the exclusive Lovett School in Buckhead are under investigation in a sexting scandal, as lawmakers in Georgia and across the country debate exactly how to punish children for a crime they may not understand.

Frontline: Juvenile Justice Stories

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Four kids, four crimes.  Two were treated as juveniles, two were sent to adult court.  Read their stories, then you decide. The PBS series Frontline looks at the adult vs. child debate, and talks to judges and lawyers.  They examine the scale of teen crime.  And they ask what makes a 6-year old nearly beat a baby to death.