Businesses Should Provide Online Safety Education, Report Says

Companies that do an extensive amount of business online should provide information and other resources to parents and children about online safety before, during, and after children use their Web sites, says a report released today .

The report from the Washington-based PointSmart.ClickSafe, an initiative of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association that focuses on educating parents about Internet safety, also calls for the creation of a federal agency to work to improve such safety, along with increased funding for online-safety curricula, research, and professional development. National goals for ensuring online safety for students and families, as well as digital literacy standards for schools, should also be developed, the report states.

A team of media companies, nonprofit organizations, educators, and public-health officials wrote the report with the aim of recommending steps for business and government to take to help...