Parents are beginning to realize that the Internet isn't just funny YouTube videos and annoying chain e-mails.

"Last year we made 71 arrests, half of those were online predators," said Chris Ahearn, the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force commander. "The other half of those were a combination of child pornography criminals."

NetSafe Utah recently launched a new Web site, netsafeutah.org, to help parents understand what's really available via the Internet, and what they can do to help keep their kids safe at home and online.

The group is airing a program on KUED beginning Monday called "Cybersafe Your Teens," that will include a panel of guests, including Attorney General Mark Shurtleff; Pete Ashdown, the president of XMission; and Amber Lindsay from NetSmartz. The one-hour program also will feature a parent-to-parent discussion and information about what parents should be aware of on the Internet.

"It's hard for parents to know where their kids are going online if they don't know how to use it in the first place. It's a whole brave new world out there for many parents," said Richard Ziebarth, a contract grant analyst with the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice.

CCJJ gave the NetSafe Utah project a $140,000 grant last year, Ziebarth said, because of the wide range of people it could possibly help.

"A lot of the school districts have done Internet safety nights, but they have a history of not being well attended, and so the program seemed like a natural fit when the grant came along," said Rick Gaisford, an education technology specialist for the Utah State Office of Education.

The program will be followed with classes at the University of Utah, a phone line parents can call for information, and parent packets, available upon request, with more resources. The Utah Education Network, The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the USOE, KUED, ICAC and the University of Utah college of education have all partnered for the project.

"We need to closely monitor what kids are doing on the Internet," said Ahearn. He recommends parents keep computers in common areas of the house, restrict access to chat rooms and monitor social networking sites like MySpace.

Two-thirds of Utah households have a computer, more than any other state in the nation, according to ICAC, and almost half of all homes have Internet access.

"We have a pretty high percentage of computer usage in the state and with the high percentage of children, you can see where there would be a problem," Ziebarth said.

Gaisford said his advice for parents would be to let your children know you're aware of what they're doing, and monitor their actions.

Schools in Utah use a filter through UEN to block access to chat rooms, networking sites, pornography and other potentially harmful sites.

"The ability to access things at school is certainly less than at home," said Gaisford. "We tend to find that they go home and access it when no one's watching."

Dale Bills, the Nebo School District's technical services supervisor, said teachers are required to monitor their students while they are on computers, and that they tend to have fewer problems because of their filter.

"When most students stumble onto something, they tell the teachers and we immediately get it blocked," Bills said.

The district sent home letters about the program on KUED, Bills said, to hopefully increase awareness about the Internet.

Brooke Barker can be reached at 344-2559 or bbarker@heraldextra.com.

NetSafe Utah: Cybersafe Your Teens

Scheduled Air Dates:

KUED- Monday, February 26, 9 p.m.

UEN-TV- Thursday, March 1, 8 p.m.

UEN-TV- Saturday, March 3, 7 p.m.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page B1.