Digital Kids

SAN FRANCISCO--Marketers convened here this week to figure out how best to reach teens on the Internet. The answer: It's all about the mobile phone.

Advertisers are clamoring to reach teens in digital environments because that's where they're spending much of their time--either online, with cell phones or playing video games. What's more, teens wield an estimated $200 billion annually in discretionary spending.

Fuse, a marketing agency based in Vermont, talked in recent weeks to senior technology executives from companies such as Sony, MTV Networks, Yahoo, and Nokia to find out what the future of technology … Read more

A few months ago we got a preview of Leapfrog's new handheld learning/gaming systems, the Didj ($89.99) and Leapster 2 ($69.99)--and now they're officially available.

LeapFrog doesn't exactly bill the Didj as a Nintendo DS competitor, but the new device is geared toward 6- to 10-year-olds, an age bracket where the DS currently rules. Meanwhile, the Leapster 2 is targeted at even younger children.

The idea behind the Didj is to up the gaming and graphics ante while continuing to integrate the learning stuff that the company's known for. Those educational elements … Read more

Update: This story was updated at 2:55 p.m. PDT to add comments from AT&T.

California's governor and attorney general are asking Internet service providers to help stop the dissemination of child pornography.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. issued a press release Friday asking Internet service providers in California to follow the lead of Verizon Communications, Time Warner Cable, and Sprint in "removing child pornography from existing servers and blocking channels" that disseminate the illegal material.

"Protecting the safety of our children must be a top priority, not … Read more

More and more 2- to 6-year-olds are watching videos on YouTube. And even the most cautious parents could find it hard to stop their little ones from discovering clips in which Tickle Me Elmo kills Barney.

That's where Totlol.com comes in. The month-old Web site leaves it up to parents to moderate which YouTube videos their kids can see. Parents can join Totlol's community to pick and review YouTube videos that would be appropriate for 6-month-olds to 6-year-olds. They can also browse among the site's more than 1,000 videos of disco penguins, singing hippos, and … Read more

Two teenagers who posted a malicious "fire in the hole" prank on YouTube were slapped with a court order to post an apology on the same video-sharing site, according to a report in Florida Today.

The sentence, devised by the judge, prosecutors, and defense attorneys, was created to serve as a deterrent to what is viewed as a growing problem of youths filming malicious, or violent, acts and posting them online, in the hope of generating notoriety.

In this particular case, a 23-year-old Taco Bell employee was stationed at the drive-up window, when a car loaded with teenagers … Read more

You'd think Disney or the Cartoon Network would lure the most 2- to 11-year-olds scouting for video on the Internet. But the honors actually go to YouTube, with clips of Bugs Bunny, trains, and puppies (mixed in with "Twitter whores" and frat parties).

According to a new study from Nielsen Online, the largest number of tykes and preteens go to YouTube for video (or 4.1 million viewers aged 2 to 11), followed by the Disneychannel.com at a distant second, with 1.3 million viewers in that age bracket for the month of April. MySpace.com, … Read more

Lawmakers and Internet executives are perking up to the growing problem of kid bully fights on the Web.

Legislators are newly arming themselves with laws that will protect kids from being repeatedly harassed via the Internet, text messages, or other electronic devices. In recent weeks, Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) and Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo.) proposed a federal law that would criminalize acts of so-called cyberbullying (PDF). And Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt was scheduled Friday to sign into state law a similar measure, but the event was postponed because of inclement weather in St. Louis.

Both state and federal laws were … Read more

Students at one Missouri university don't just have to take surprise quizzes on economics, chemistry, or Spanish these days. They also get pop quizzes on digital copyright law. The online test aims to prevent piracy and violation of copyright laws, and if students want access to peer-to-peer file sharing, they have to ace it.

According to an Associated Press report, the Missouri University of Science and Technology now requires students to correctly answer six questions about digital copyright law before they can use peer-to-peer tools. If they pass the test, they get six hours of access to the software. … Read more

Computer companies are pushing to swap the violence in video games with messages of social change.

Next week, Advanced Micro Devices plans to announce a project designed to teach kids how to build video games that promote social causes such as fighting poverty or protecting the environment. Called Changing the Game, the project will fund nonprofit organizations that inspire kids with video games, and it will develop curriculum for youth to build their own software for games. Changing the Game is the first initiative funded by the chipmaker's newly formed AMD Foundation, a grant-making organization.

At the same time … Read more