Rapping may not be the best way to stop cyberbullying

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Listen, we get it. There's a need to keep kids safe online. There are plenty of threats out there from child luring to online bullying. We applaud efforts to protect children - honest!

But this video created by Internet security firm RMC of some guy badly rapping as a group of kids who missed a Barney & Friends casting call mindlessly bop around behind him has left us nearly speechless.

It's been posted around blogs and not in praise of its strategy, but because it's 2010 and it's hard to think of how a kid could get anything of value from this low-budget, largely nonsensical video.

Sample lyrics: "Click with your conscience HD clear/Download safely with no fear/Keep your 4-1-1 in gear/and CONNECT with how we do round here."

Here are a few recent, thoughtful approaches to protecting children that we can get behind:

-Kid-only social networks. In the case of Dizeo, which launched last week, moderators help protect kids by screening posts (almost in real-time) before they're shared on public boards - protecting kids from sharing personal data before they're old enough to protect themselves.

-Apps planted in the popular networks kids are already using. This week, the team at SafetyWeb released the Facebook app Find Help. It installs right into the tabs of the site and offers advice to kids on various topics such as cyberbullying, as well as information on help lines so kids can report any abusive or predatory behaviour.

-Social networking taught at school. Hey, instead of banning Facebook (which will only prompt kids to use proxy servers), why not teach them how to use it safely at school? A group of New Zealand schools have had much success with an in-school, student-only social network that allows for the usual experience but also equips kids with advice on how to protect themselves online and play nice with each other.

We still encourage you to watch the video above - but for entertainment purposes only.