[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 185 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 185

 Expressing the sense of the Senate with respect to raising awareness 
 and encouraging education about safety on the Internet and supporting 
        the goals and ideals of National Internet Safety Month.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 25, 2003

Ms. Murkowski (for herself, Mr. Stevens, and Mr. Inouye) submitted the 
        following resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the Senate with respect to raising awareness 
 and encouraging education about safety on the Internet and supporting 
        the goals and ideals of National Internet Safety Month.

Whereas, in the United States, 48 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 
        use computers;
Whereas 5 to 17 year-olds in the United States currently spend 5 billion hours 
        on-line annually;
Whereas 70 million youth under the age of 18 worldwide are on-line;
Whereas the majority of teenagers' on-line use occurs after school, at home, 
        when working parents are not at home;
Whereas 90 percent of those age 15 to 24 use the Internet, with almost half of 
        them using it once a day or more;
Whereas approximately 3 out of 4 young people have access to the Internet at 
        home, and nearly 1 in 3 has access from their own bedroom;
Whereas 9 out of 10 children between ages 8 and 16 have viewed pornography on 
        the Internet, with most being accessed unintentionally when, often in 
        the process of doing homework, a child used a seemingly innocent 
        sounding word in an Internet search for information or pictures;
Whereas 62 percent of parents of teenagers are unaware that their children have 
        accessed objectionable websites;
Whereas 89 percent of sexual solicitations were made in either chat rooms or 
        Instant Messages;
Whereas 30 percent of the girls responding to a Girl Scout research study 
        reported that they had been sexually harassed in a chat room, but only 7 
        percent told a parent about the harassment, most fearing their parents 
        would overreact and ban computer usage altogether;
Whereas, in 1996, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was involved in 113 cases 
        involving Internet crimes against children, but in 2001, the FBI opened 
        1,541 cases against suspects of Internet crimes involving child 
        pornography or abuse; and
Whereas June as National Internet Safety Month will provide national awareness 
        of the dangers of the Internet while offering education about how to be 
        safe, responsible, and accountable on the Internet: Now, therefore, be 
        it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) National Internet Safety Month provides an opportunity 
        to educate the people of the United States on the dangers of 
        the Internet and the importance of being safe and responsible 
        on-line;
            (2) national and community organizations should be 
        recognized and applauded for their work in promoting awareness 
        of the dangers of the Internet and for providing information on 
        developing the critical thinking and decision-making skills to 
        be safe on-line; and
            (3) Internet safety organizations, law enforcement, 
        educators, and volunteers should increase their efforts to 
        raise the awareness of on-line safety.
                                 <all>