Virginia Tries to Ensure Students' Safety in Cyberspace

Lily Pinner, a freshman, sets her MySpace page on private and lists her age as 99. But she said a friend's 4-year-old sister recently ventured onto the site, writing friendly messages with her name and age and noting that she lives "in a big house."

"I said, 'You don't want to tell people that.' She said, 'Why?'" Lily said, adding that it's hard because she doesn't want to scare the girl but wants to keep her safe. "I said, 'Because some people aren't nice.' "

"They still believe everyone is good and the bad guy always loses," added freshman Labiba Ahmed.

One in seven children ages 10 to 17 has been sexually solicited while online, according to the National Center for Exploited and Missing Children. Thirty-four percent of those youths also acknowledged communicating online with individuals they did not know, and more and more are posting personal information and photos on the Internet, according to the organization.

"The reality is, kids have this sense of immortality and can do some remarkably dangerous things, putting themselves at risk," said Ernie Allen, National Center for Exploited and Missing Children's chief executive.

He likened Internet safety classes to driver's education.

"Just like a lot of good things, there is a dark side," he said. "Driving an automobile is a positive thing, but there are risks."

Allen said other states should follow Virginia's "pioneering" effort. Already, he said, politicians and elected officials from other states have contacted his organization for more information. Texas and Illinois also passed laws to promote teaching of Internet safety.

"What we like about the Virginia model is when you mandate it, you can be sure it's going to be done," Allen said. "We know schools have a lot to do, but it's hard to imagine something that is more important and can have greater impact right now."

Virginia Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell (R) has said that more than half the world's Internet traffic flows through Virginia because MCI and America Online operate in the state.

Del. William H. Fralin Jr. (R-Roanoke) said he introduced the Virginia legislation, which passed in 2006, when his oldest child was 10 and had just started using the Internet. He said his wife raised the question of safety.

"She said, 'How do we know who he's talking to and what's going on?' and I said, 'I don't know,' " Fralin said.