Two pieces from my favorite NPR podcast that are relevant:

Peer to Peer: http://onthemedia.org/transcripts/2009/01/23/04
January 23, 2009 Last year, 49 state attorneys general created The Internet Safety Technical Task Force to study the problem of how to keep kids safer online. A year later, the task force’s findings have caused some controversy. Namely that the biggest threat to kids on the internet comes from their peers. Task force member and CEO of the Family Online Safety Institute Stephen Balkam discusses the study.

and

Growing Up Online: http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2009/01/30/06
January 30, 2009 - A whole generation of children has grown up connected to the Internet. Berkman Center for Internet & Society director John Palfry calls these kids “digital natives.” Palfrey argues in his book Born Digital that they see the world in a profoundly different way than the rest of us.

I appreciate your information on cybersafety. As a parent and educator, it is valuable to be aware of the best ways to keep kids out of places that are not appropriate for them and that could put them at risk.

Janet

There is also far too much emphasis placed on the supposed privacy of “personal data” for both adults and kids. Your name, address, phone number, and other so-called “personal data” was publicly available long before computers. Computers have just made it easier to access that data.

The swimming analogy is a good one. Water in and of itself isn’t good or bad - it’s how we relate to it that defines it for that moment. A computer is a tool. How we use it determines how we perceive it. If someone has a negative encounter with another person that they met online, the computer isn’t to blame! Kids are no more likely to meet “bad people” online than they are in person. In fact, I am far more worried about the influence of the poor choices of their peers than I am about anyone “bad” they might meet online.