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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
May 5, 1999

VICE PRESIDENT GORE ANNOUNCES THE PARENTS' PROTECTION PAGE

Site Will Give Parents Access to Tools to Help Protect Children While on the Internet

Washington, D.C. -- Vice President Al Gore announced today the Parents' Protection Page, marking an important new commitment by Internet companies to provide parents with easy to find new resources to protect their children from inappropriate material on the Internet.

This commitment from 15 of the country's premiere Internet companies means that from any access point on the Internet, parents and kids will be just one click away from a comprehensive resource guide that will provide valuable tools, tips and resources for safe surfing on the net. Parents visiting Internet sites that account for 95% of all Internet traffic will be just one click away from the tools and safety tips they need to protect their children in cyberspace.

"With this new Parents' Protection Page, we will help ensure that children aren't surfing into dangerous waters when they surf the Web," Vice President Gore said. "By establishing one simple place to block and monitor what children will see, we are giving the computer keyboard back to those who know best -- America's parents."

The Parents' Protection Page will include:

Tools for Families. Parents will have instant access to as many as 80 separate tools representing the latest technologies that allow parents to take charge of their home computer. From the Parents' Protection Page, parents may:

  1. deploy the latest blocking and filtering technologies to limit access to inappropriate content including violent game sites, hate groups, and other material that parents believe are inappropriate for their children;
  2. monitor which websites and chat rooms their children have visited and;
  3. set strict time limits on their children's online sessions.
How to Report Trouble Online. Parents, teachers and children will have access to information on how to report crime or other troubling activity on line.

Guide to Good Content -- Parents, teachers and children can quickly choose from an array of high quality online content that is educational and beneficial to kids.

Safety Tips. Separate tips for parents, teens and children will spell out some of the most important guidelines and suggestions for safe surfing.
"This commitment by the Internet industry today demonstrates a positive step forward -- empowering parents with the tools, knowledge and resources to supervise and guide their children's online experience. Giving parents and teachers this ability will help ensure that our children can get the most from the vast educational potential of the Internet while keeping them safe from inappropriate material," said Vice President Gore.

And because there are parents whose children know more about the internet than they do, Vice President Gore also announced that parents can receive a copy of the Department of Education's publication, "Parents Guide to the Internet." This guide can help parents learn the fundamentals of using the Internet and supervising their children's use of the Internet and can be obtained by calling 1-800 USA-Learn.

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