Students sought for international online safety meeting in England

An International Youth Advisory Congress on Online Safety and Security will be held in London, England, July 16-22, 2008. Twenty students will be selected to represent the U.S. at the conference.

Students, ages 11 to 16 who are Internet-savvy and wish to be considered for one of the 20 U.S. spots, have until Jan. 25, to submit an application. A total of 300 students from Australia, Canada, the European Union and the U.S. will attend the conference.

"Children today are part of a new Internet generation that grew up playing, communicating and learning in cyberspace," said National Center for Missing & Exploited Children President Ernie Allen. "It's important to solicit their input in our effort to protect them from predators who may try to victimize them online."

The conference will be hosted by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre and Virtual Global Task Force, an international law enforcement organization dedicated to fighting the online victimization of children. Both organizations are based in London.

"The event is not about talking to young people. It is not even about thinking how to best protect them. It is about listening to them," said Jim Gamble, CEO of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre and chair of the VGT.

Participants will attend workshops, panel discussions and other group activities. The objective of the Congress will be to give young people a voice in how online and offline child-protection measures are created and implemented; engage young people who directly face online risks by enabling them to design solutions and interact with those people and organizations that work to protect them; and provide young people from various cultures and backgrounds with a forum to communicate with each other.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has asked NCMEC to work in partnership with them in selecting the 20 students who will represent the U.S.

NetSmartz Workshop, a program of NCMEC, will coordinate the selection process. Students selected must have knowledge of Internet technology and be willing to express their opinions on online safety and security issues.

To prepare the selected students to represent the U.S. at the conference, ICE and NCMEC will cohost an April meeting in Washington, D.C., to discuss online safety and Internet security with the students.

Information on how to apply is at www.NetSmartz.org/IYAC.