Pandora’s Blog

It was only a matter of time. Since hundreds, thousands of online predators were booted from MySpace, it was only natural they would go to the next breeding ground. Yesterday, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced his office has subpoenaed Facebook, accusing the social networking site of not keeping young users safe from sexual predators and not responding to user complaints.

You can read a full Reuter’s article here: NY subpoenas Facebook over safety from predators.

Those of you who read my blog know I am no friend of social networking sites. They are damaging to our society in more ways than one. It seems the only good they offer, which is touted to no extent, is that they help people stay in touch. So what?! First of all, why do teens need to stay in touch with anyone? Secondly, it has gotten to the point where these social network sites are so “important” to people and such a necessity to them that they lose ambition to even go outside or hang out with their real-life physical friends, choosing to stay in with their virtual ones instead. It’s sad and it’s really plaguing our physical interaction skills as human beings.

…And then of course it’s also a breeding ground for those who use the site to do harm to others. It’s not an overnight process either. The nasties that will lurk there and try to prey on you will spend months on your buddy list, building a trusting friendship. Trusting enough to convince you to finally meet them in person. We all know what happens next.

Anyway, I am just one person. I encourage you all to comment. Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me that social networking sites actually DO do us some good… I dare you!

In the meantime, if your child uses any social networking site, install monitoring software like PC Pandora. It’s $50 for a peace of mind and knowledge of whom they are talking to and what they are revealing… but more importantly, who is trying to talk to them.

We went out with a press release today announcing our first round of PC Pandora’s SAFE SCHOOLS donations. Check it out!

PC Pandora Helps Schools in 12 States Keep Their Students SAFE

Pandora Corp. donated $287,500 worth of its signature PC Pandora software to 14 schools and districts in 12 states across the country in the first round of donations through their SAFE SCHOOLS Program. The software will help schools keep their students safe from online predators, halt potential cyberbullying, and keep the school machines free of illegal file sharing.

New York, NY (PRWEB) September 18, 2007 — As part of Pandora Corp’s SAFE SCHOOLS initiative, over a quarter of a million dollars worth of PC Pandora Internet safety and monitoring software has been donated to 14 schools and districts in 12 states across the US.

Recognizing both the need to keep students safe online at school and limited budgets of school districts in the US, Pandora Corp. created the PC Pandora SAFE SCHOOLS program. The program pledges to donate up to $100,000 worth of its parental control/ monitoring software, PC Pandora, to every school district in the country upon request. With computers in every school - if not every classroom - across the US, students constantly find the opportunity to utilize and surf the Internet. The SAFE SCHOOLS program offers school administrators an efficient and cost-effective solution to help keep their students safe online.

“We’re very excited to make PC Pandora available to schools across the country — at no cost to them,” states Co-founder of Pandora Corp., James Leasure. “We’re hoping that this first round of donations is just the start.”

PC Pandora is a desktop application that allows parents and teachers to monitor and control PC activity by children. In addition to basic filtering and blocking functions (that help to control access to material like pornography and music or video files), the program will keep an accurate record of all actions on the PC via screen capture. This enables school administrators to make sure no one is trying to solicit their students online or partaking in cyberbullying. Furthermore, it can help protect school computers from illegal file sharing and other downloading activity, for which schools could potentially be held responsible.

“The program fulfills a very important need for parents and teachers, as kids at school fall victim to Internet bullying and sexual predator solicitations on a daily basis,” states Leasure. “It’s up to all of us to help keep our kids and our communities safe and this software is a great tool to utilize.”

There is no catch. The company explains that school officials simply have to request the software (via Software Request Form) and provide liaison to coordinate the giveaway and installations within schools. A member of the PC Pandora team will provide download instructions, activation keys and a brief tutorial. Schools are mere steps away from having their PCs better safeguarded from online predators and cyberbullying, as well as ensuring that students spend less time with distractions such as Facebook or MySpace.

Co-Founder Manuel Coats adds, “By offering software to schools, we hope to widen the impact and availability of PC Pandora, while at the same time giving educators a great way to help keep students safe online during -and even after- school hours.”

As an added bonus, Pandora Corp. is giving the option to donation recipients to use PC Pandora as a fundraising tool. Educational organizations will be able to select a unique code that will allow area parents to purchase the software at a discounted price. The code will then be tracked and a portion of those sales (35%) will be donated to the school/district. Leasure and Coats hope that schools will then invest that money in online safety education for parents and students in the area.

Interested school administrators should email safeschools@pcpandora.com for a Software Request Form. More information on the program can be found at PCPandora.com.

Students Online At School: According to a 2004 survey conducted by St. Bernard Software of 200 technology decision-makers from small, medium and large school districts in suburban, rural and urban settings in 41 states…
- 48% Estimate their students spend more than two hours per week on the Internet during school hours
- 59% Report incidents of students accessing inappropriate Web content in the past year
- 39% Cite examples of students accessing pornography
- 25% Cite examples of students accessing violent content

About PC Pandora: Pandora Corporation was formed with one goal - to help our customers monitor, control and protect their families and themselves online. First released in mid 2005, PC Pandora has been constantly upgraded to industry-leading specifications and has received accolades from users, reviewers and even school districts and law enforcement agencies, who use the program to help in the day-to-day supervision of the children and citizens they are charged with protecting. The company website devotes space to helping parents with 18 Tips to Safe Surfing and the new Pandora’s Blog, where current news in the world of online safety are discussed regularly. PC Pandora has vaulted into a leadership position by boasting a combination of features that unparalleled in the monitoring industry. Software is available for review and testing. Staff members are always available for interviews.

One of the things I like to do in this blog is share good news involving the issue of child online safety. Two states are making news with their proactive initiatives to educate kids on recognizing inappropriate solicitations that could be predator threats.

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum’s cybercrime unit has developed an Internet safety program to be taught in Florida’s middle and high schools this fall. It will teach students about the dangers of the Internet and offer safety tips. According to an AP article, McCollum says he hopes the information prompts children to take precautions and in the end — save lives. Check out Florida’s Safe Surf site.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Mike Cox has unveiled the Michigan Cyber Safety Initiative. The campaign aims to teach kids how to recognize the language of Internet predators and protect themselves online. Its age-appropriate messages are delivered via cartoon cats for elementary students and sobering video clips for middle school students. Staffers from the Attorney General’s Office will go to school districts this fall and train teachers on the program. So far, over 80 school districts statewide have signed up for the program, including Detroit Public Schools. Read the article from The Detroit News.

These are two states that should be taking advantage of our PC Pandora’s SAFE SCHOOLS program. In addition to the student education, schools could be equipped with technology that adds a layer of monitoring protection to all PCs. All you have to do is ask for it, and you shall receive.

Certainly good news to read:

Hartford (AP) – The federal government is giving Connecticut about $425,000 to help state and local police track and arrest Internet sex predators.

Governor Rell’s office says the grant comes from the U.S. Department of Justice to help fund investigations of online sex crimes targeting children.

The state police’s Computer Crimes Unit last year investigated 211 tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. That unit is part of a national network of state and local police agencies that investigate cases of online sexual exploitation of children.

Rell’s office says the grant will help pay for investigations such as undercover work to find people who entice minors online, and will help increase the Computer Crimes Unit’s forensics capacity.

Hopefully, one day it will be a given that the federal government gives states funding to help fight these online sickos. Until then, we’ll take what we can get!