Nick News Explores the Perils of Living in an Online World

Nick News Explores the Perils of Living in an Online World

Nick News With Linda Ellerbee: Online and In Danger? How to Protect Yourself in the Virtual World

Airs Sunday December 10, 8:30 P.M. ET/PT on Nickelodeon

NEW YORK, Nov. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Twenty-five million American kids have been -- or are -- online. The number is staggering, but even more startling is that, according to recent data gathered by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 71% of teens online have received personal messages from someone they don't know, 45% have been asked for personal information from a stranger; 34% have had unwanted or unsolicited exposure to inappropriate images; 20% have received a sexual solicitation over the Internet, 30% have considered meeting in person someone they met online, while 14% have actually done so. Approximately one million kids have received an aggressive sexual solicitation: someone asking to meet in person, calling on the telephone or sending snail mail, money or gifts. Yet fewer than one in five kids who have experienced any of the above, have told a parent or guardian.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061127/NYM177 )

Nick News with Linda Ellerbee explores the problem and looks at solutions in Online and In Danger? How to Protect Yourself in the Virtual World, airing Sunday, December 10 at 8:30 p.m. on Nickelodeon. Kids and experts such as Ernie Allen, President & CEO of The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and Parry Aftab, founder of WiredSafety weigh in on social networking sites, and the ways predators try to get at kids. Cyber cops explain what they do, what "grooming" is, and how online predators are groomed themselves. We visit with The TeenAngels, 13-18 year-old volunteers trained in online privacy and security. They visit schools, and run a website, spreading the word -- from kids to kids -- about how to live, learn, and play safely online.

"For a lot of kids, the virtual world is their playground, recreation center, arcade, and mall. Going online isn't something they do, it's somewhere they are," said Ellerbee. "The goal of this show is not to scare kids offline or encourage parents to unplug computers, but to help kids better understand and use this evolving technology, and show them ways to protect themselves in the process."

Approximately 65% of all teens have visited some kind of social networking site such as MySpace, Facebook or Xanga, according to a CBSNews.com poll. In Online and In Danger?, kids explain why they go on these sites, what types of information they're posting, and other ways they use the Internet. They also tell stories of close encounters or actual experiences with online abuse.

Nick News, celebrating its 15th year, is the longest-running kids' news show in television history, and has built its reputation on the respectful and direct way it speaks to kids about the important issues of the day. In 2005, it won the Emmy for Outstanding Children's Programming for its show, From the Holocaust to the Sudan. In 1994, the entire series, Nick News, won the Emmy for Outstanding Children's Programming. In 1998, "What Are You Staring At?" a program about kids with physical disabilities, won the Emmy for Outstanding Children's Programming. In 2002, "Faces of Hope: The Kids of Afghanistan," won the Emmy for Outstanding Children's Programming. In 2004, two Nick News Specials, "The Courage to Live: Kids, South Africa and AIDS" and "There's No Place Like Home," a special about homeless kids in America, were both nominated for the Outstanding Children's Programming Emmy. In fact, Nick News has received more than 20 Emmy nominations. Nick News, produced by Lucky Duck Productions, is also the recipient of three Peabody Awards, including a personal one given to Ellerbee for her coverage, for kids, of the President Clinton investigation; two Columbia duPont Awards; and more than a dozen Parents' Choice Awards.

Nickelodeon, in its 27th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in almost 92 million households and has been the number-one- rated basic cable network for more than eleven consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:VIA.B).

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061127/NYM177
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN6
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Nickelodeon

CONTACT: Joanna Roses, +1-212-846-7326, or Thamar Romero,
+1-212-846-7491, both of Nickelodeon

Web site: http://www.nick.com/

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