Google Is Hosting Parent-Child Internet Safety Workshops This Week

Google hosted the first of its parent-child Internet safety workshops in partnership with the National Parent Teacher Association and YMCA on Internet Safety Day, Feb. 11. The workshop, and subsequent programs that will continue throughout this week, will focus on giving parents the tools to help kids be safe, smart, and kind on the Internet. This initiative is part of Google’s Be Internet Awesome campaign; workshops will be held through the PTA and YMCA in 46 states and in Spain, Africa, and Indonesia.

Google also unveiled new research tools that show parents aren’t comfortable talking to their kids about Internet safety–in fact, 73 percent of parents spend less than 20 minutes a month discussing it! Only 4 in 10 parents feel confident to talk to their families about this subject, and 50 percent of parents themselves have never received any kind of Internet safety training. Parents’ top online concerns for their kids, Google reports, are inappropriate content, cyberbullying, and making sure their kids are communicating responsibly.