I-Safe America Inc., a non-profit internet safety organization based in Carlsbad, California, brought it's curriculum to Redmond this week.

The company uses classroom, community, and law enforcement education programs to make the Internet a safer place for children.

The Lake Washington School District now has I-Safe trainers in each of their schools who will in-turn instruct teachers in the program. It relies on education, not software or internet filters, to keep children safe from on-line predators, cyber-bullying, and other internet threats.

The parents' introduction to the program began with the story of Christina Long.

The Danbury, Connecticut sixth grader secretly visited chatrooms and began an on-line relationship with a total stranger. He turned out to be a 25 year old married man who was eventually convicted of her murder in 2002.

"The feedback that I get the most is the parents have no idea what they're coming across," said Diane Schimmel who gave the Wednesday night presentation for I-Safe. "There are predators that are going into chatrooms trying to have conversations and relationships with 12, 13, 14-year old students.

According to I-Safe, 25 percent of teenagers from 5th to 12th grades say they have, or would be willing, to meet someone face-to-face that they first met on-line.

They also estimate that one in five children using the Internet have been propositioned for sex and that one in four have been involuntarily exposed to pornography.

"There is no monitoring and this is incredibly dangerous," said Stephanie Dickson of the on-line ordeal her 14-year-old son went through. He was a victim of cyberbullying.

His former friends posted an elaborate "hate page" on MySpace.com and dedicated it to all things rude, demeaning, hurtful, and embarrassing to Dickson's son.

"This is a community problem. This is something that parents need to look at," said Dickson.

The I-Safe curriculum addresses these and other Internet threats. If you'd like to learn more about the warning signs and how to protect your children on-line:

I-Safe America Inc.

FBI

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Lake Washington School District