A new online game is guiding the Internet's biggest new demographic of users through the minefield of web safety — and it's taking their parents for the educational ride as well.
Preschoolers are the fastest growing segment of Internet users. Fifty-eight per cent of three- and four-year-olds are online, and the number rises to 77 per cent of those aged five and six.
So, Alberta Children's Services and Microsoft Canada have teamed up to create Bad Guy Patrol, an online game for children aged five to 10 in which Blockin' Betty the porcupine leads players through a series of challenges to win flags and become part of the team at Bad Guy base camp.
Alberta's children's services minister Heather Forsyth wrote to Microsoft mogul Bill Gates with the idea to tackle a “serious and scary issue” in a way that is fun.
“One just has to read the paper or watch the news to see what's going on out there,” said Ms. Forsyth. “Predators can now contact children right in their own homes. We have to catch kids early.”
The concept was forwarded to Microsoft Canada, who helped develop a Canadian solution.
On the site, children work their way through a series of interactive games with the help of an owl, porcupine, bighorn sheep and a buffalo.
There are two games — one for children aged five to seven, and another for children aged eight to 10 — and players answer questions on what information they should and shouldn't give out, and when to alert their parents to internet friends and activities; how to recognize emoticons.
And for parents, there's a section of grown ups that explains what children need to be aware of and how adults can help their children become safe and savvy internet users.
Ms. Forsyth expects to share the program with other provinces. The website is at www.badguypatrol.ca.
With files from the Canadian Press
