« Company-Specific Online Safety Initiatives
NCTA
As a leading provider of multichannel video, digital phone and high-speed Internet service to tens of millions of American consumers, the cable industry knows that today’s media mix and technology environment present new challenges for parents and caregivers seeking to help their families use media appropriately. Cable operators and programmers have a longstanding commitment to providing consumers with the necessary tools and knowledge to effectively manage media—including the Internet—in their homes, and to ensuring that family use of media is safe, educational and enjoyable.
To that end, cable companies, cable programming networks and Cable in the Classroom (CIC), the industry’s education foundation, have been working with national organizations, schools and community groups to help parents and children learn how to use media in ways appropriate for them. This approach focuses on the use of parental controls, making wise choices in media use, and the critical evaluation of media that children use.
Cable’s high-speed Internet customers have the option of using parental controls provided by their cable company ISP to customize on-line usage by children in the home. The tools are easy to use, provide a powerful range of options, and come from respected names such as McAfee and others.
Families also have a wide variety of Internet content from which to choose, including many destinations perfect for kids and families, such as the websites of many of cable’s family-oriented channels. Cable companies work with groups such as Common Sense Media and others to help parents identify and find the best and most appropriate online and video resources for their family. In addition, numerous local cable systems partner with Internet safety organizations like i-SAFE, NetSmartz and the Internet Keep Safe Coalition to provide information about, and present workshops on, Internet safety.
For more than a decade, Cable in the Classroom, working with and on behalf of cable companies and programming networks, has been a powerful advocate for media literacy education. Through partnerships with leading education organizations, Internet safety groups and National PTA, CIC provides workshops, Internet tutorials, publications, research, teaching materials, and online resources to help parents and educators teach children about media use, recognize messages in media, and consider the appropriateness of their Internet use. Many of these resources are freely available in the Media Smart section of CIC’s website, www.ciconline.org/media-smart.
Cable operators and program networks devote significant airtime and online space to public service information and resources regarding Internet safety. As part of Project Online Safety, cable operators such as Comcast, Time Warner, Cox Communications, and Charter Communications have pledged to air public service announcements from NCMEC and The Ad Council. The industry’s trade group, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), distributes the public service advertising nationwide to its member-company cable systems and programmers.
NCTA Contact: Brian DietzVice President, Communications, NCTA
bdietz@ncta.com
202.222.2350
