http://www.protecteverychild.org Mary Conyers came out of retirement with one goal in mind: To keep kids safe online. She got the idea after watching her own granddaughters try to navigate the treacherous waters of cyberspace.

Knightdale Grandmother Sets Sights on Cyberspace Safety
Posted: May. 7, 2007 10:13 p.m.
Updated: May. 8, 2007 1:19 p.m.

Knightdale
Mary Conyers came out of retirement with one goal in mind: To keep kids safe online. She got the idea after watching her own granddaughters try to navigate the treacherous virtual waters of cyberspace.

So far, the Knightdale grandmother has started a non-profit called "Protect Every Child,” which has distributed hundreds of free DVDs to help schools and parents educate their kids about being safe online.

The DVD includes the basics — don't talk to strangers and don't share personal information. These rules seem simple, but young computer-users violate them every day.

One girl who won’t violate those rules is Conyers’ 16-year-old granddaughter, Whitney.

“I pretty much keep my stuff private and try not to put out too much information,” Whitney said. “I don't talk to anyone I don't know. All my friends on my buddy list are people I know from school and stuff.”

As Conyers sees it, parents protect their children in many other areas of life, but not enough when it comes to the Internet.

“You wouldn't let your son or daughter leave the driveway until they know all of the rules about driving and make sure they follow them,” she said. “The same thing is true of the Internet.”

Conyers believes the Internet has become a virtual playground for child sex offenders.

“There's no way that law enforcement can ever catch every sex offender or online predator. I think we've got to do that through the kids. They can slam the door and lock it,” she said.

Conyers said she has received 600 requests for the DVD in the past three weeks from 41 states and several other countries. She is trying to raise money to accommodate everyone.

Copyright 2007 by WRAL.com. All rights reserved.

(Additional Information direct from Ms. Conyers below)


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We would appreciate all of the help you can give us in educating kids about online safety! I am sorry you could not register for our newsletter. We were having so much trouble with spam coming through that link we had to take off the registration link that came to me. I was getting 25 and 30 emails a day and more through that link that were very graphic and definitely spam! I have not been able to send a newsletter in months because of the expense. All ofthe funds I raise must go into producing "Safety On The Internet" until we receive enough funding to handle both.
For five years I lobbied to change the law moving all pornography to a .XXX Top Level Web Domain. It went as far as a bill being introduced to the USSenate by a Senator from Montana. It finally died and they are working on it from a different angle. In the meantime, my work on educating kids about online safety through my "Safety On The Internet" program became a priority for my organization. In order to grow, I had to make the decision to make Protect Every Child a non-profit, 501 (c) (3), organization. Doing that meant that I could no longer lobby for changes in legislation. A couple from Smithfield, Barbara and Gene Black, took over that part of my work and formed an organization called Kids Come First,


http://www.kidscomefirstonline.org They have done a wonderful job in working on this. I had collected more than 8,000 signatures for .XXX before handing it over to them. They will stay with this new bill until something happens with it.

I believe the only way we will ever keep online predators from reaching our kids is to educate every child about how to use the Internet safely. Law enforcement will never catch all of these pedophiles. Kids hold the key to locking them out!!!

I would be grateful for any publicity you can give us through your websites.We have received requests and mailed more than 700 copies of our program since April 17th to 41 states and countries outside of the US. My goal is to send it to every school system, church, law enforcement or group that will use it to educate kids and their parents free of charge. A big goal of our organization is to make certain it is sent to every school for the deaf and the blind.

Thank you for writing and thank you for anything you can do to help.

Mary Conyers




THE SENATOR MENTIONED IS SENATOR BAUCUS AND HE HASN'T GIVEN UP. HE AND SENATOR MARK PRYOR ARE CONTINUING IN THEIR EFFORTS TO SEE THE 'CYBER SAFETY FOR KIDS ACT' PASSED. TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS ISSUE, PLEASE VISIT KIDSCOMEFIRSTONLINE.ORG



NCMEC operates a CyberTipline at http://www.cybertipline.com that allows parents and children to report child pornography and sexual exploitation of children by submitting an online form. This form is then reviewed by analysts and forwarded to law enforcement including the FBI, the U.S. Customs Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and state and local police agencies.

Individual FBI Field Offices serve as primary points of contact for persons requesting FBI assistance. For further information about FBI services or to request assistance, please contact a Crimes Against Children Coordinator at your local FBI Field Office.



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Another excellent, helpful site is http://www.cyberangels.org Recently I came across them because I was looking for a place to report an incident. I was doing an online search for a local skateboard park where my children could play. I thank God they weren't standing by my shoulder as they so often are, because the innocent looking link I clicked on brought up a page from Adult Friend Finder which was full of naked women involved in sexual acts. Quite a shock when you're expecting to see information on skateboarding! The page was also full of various links to things like skateboard parks, parks & recreation, etc. so that I'm sure many others will accidentally come across it & I only hope it's not a child. I forwarded the information to Cyber Angels & also to 2 local police departments. I haven't heard from anyone but I hope they are investigating. What a horrible way for a young child to learn about what goes on between men & women.
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