Sep. 5--As the digital age rolls on, parents have more and more things to worry about when their children go online.

Now, as schools have started making the switch from traditional textbooks to online course materials and mandating typed homework, students have the opportunity -- and are even encouraged -- to be online more often.

Parents are left wondering how to keep their children safe from sexual predators, identity thieves, and even their own classmates, as social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook have become an outlet for online bullying.

Safety at school

Most schools in the area require their students to sign an acceptable use agreement that lists what students may and may not do online and will list the consequences of breaking that agreement.

Donna Petraits, director of communications for the Brownsburg Community School Corporation, said all Brownsburg students are required to take the acceptable use agreement home to their parents to read over and sign with them.

"Not now, but in the past, some parents have refused to let their children use the computers at school," Petraits said. "Teachers and even some parents will tell you how strong the filters [on the computers] are, when they try to send an e-mail to the school."

All staff of Brownsburg schools must sign the agreement as well, and teachers sign another agreement that gives them responsibility for what their students do online while under their supervision, said Bob McColgin. McColgin is the director of technological services for Brownsburg schools.

As well as blocking websites like Myspace, websites with adult content, hate content, and weapons, McColgin said the school employs another system of monitoring what students can view online.

"It's an identity site, which doesn't block the kid from seeing what's on there, but it flags it. I go through the sites that are flagged and give the teacher a list of students who are doing it," he said. "Like if it's Race for the Cure time and a teacher is doing a research project about breast cancer, it will flag the word 'breast' but it's more for the student who sits in the back and searches 'breast' on Yahoo or Google."

McColgin said the students who break the agreement will usually have their computer privileges taken away and whatever punishment the school decides they should get. The flagging feature is not used by all schools, he said, though most at least block the inappropriate websites.

He also gave some tips for parents on how to keep their children safe while they work at home.