Parents'-eye-view on blogs

Parents are getting smart about the privacy and, potentially, safety risks to children in blogs - one of kids' Top 5 online activities. Just since the year began, I've gotten a flurry of email from parents and teachers about this. You'll find some highlights in this week's issue of my newsletter: Patrick in Massachusetts on how he feels about his 12-year-old using Xanga.com; Cathy in Illinois on "name-calling" in the blogging of her 12-year-old's peer group; and Michele in Massachusetts on all the evidence in blogs of kids feeling pressure to grow up too fast. Plus, there's an item on "Nudity in teen blogs," with advice from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on what's being prosecuted as a crime under federal child-porn law.