Teri Schroeder UNION-TRIBUNE April 5, 2004 Teri Schroeder is founder and chief executive officer of Carlsbad-based i-SAFE America (http://www.isafe.org), a nonprofit foundation focusing on Internet safety for students. Founded in 1998, the group launched its Safe Schools Education Initiative and Outreach Campaign in 2002, initially in 24 states. It is now nationwide. How many students does i-SAFE teach in a year? We are in schools in all 50 states. We're entering our third year of congressional funding. In 24 months, we've reached over 200,000 students. What's the prime tip to keep a student safe on the Internet? First and foremost, it's important for students to be educated and informed. We do a pre-assessment. Kids are well aware of the dangers online. They can be quite sophisticated, but they can't be as sophisticated as a 30-, 40-or 50-year-old predator. They're not sophisticated enough to recognize the things that are used to lure them into that danger. The FBI has reported that in most cases, children were willing participants. They had no idea that they were dealing with an adult predator. They don't know what the signs are. They don't recognize something that an adult would say doesn't sound right. We teach them the signs that identify a predator. Who are your sponsors? We are congressionally funded through the Department of Justice in Washington. We also receive funding from the Defense Department. Military families are transient. Military children are at the highest risk because they learn to use the Internet to keep in touch with relatives and friends from previous schools. We also have philanthropic and corporate donors. What role do schools play in keeping children safe online? Schools are there to provide a learning environment for students. They provide a good environment for teaching Internet safety. Many parents can't talk to their children about the Internet because they don't understand it as well as their kids do. Internet safety is talked about a lot more between students. It's not just a parent issue. It's not just a school issue. It's a community issue. That's why we also meet with community leaders when we go into a school. How did i-SAFE end up in Carlsbad? We have staff around the country, but this is where I lived when I started i-SAFE. I was the CEO of a content provider to America Online. Some of the kids would come over to our content from the chat rooms. One child said they felt intimidated in the chat rooms. That's where I got the idea for i-SAFE, from the voice of one child. – Jonathan Sidener Photo by: Nadia Borowski Scott