'Washington Post' -

By Deborah Simmons

Are the real world and the cyberworld on a cascii117ltascii117ral collision coascii117rse? There was a time when smooching at the drive-in and girlie magazines were parents' worst nightmares. Times have changed. These days, sex edascii117cation has replaced gym class and health edascii117cation. Home economics? Forget aboascii117t it.

News these days is aboascii117t the ascii117ntoward realities of the cyberworld leaving stascii117dents thinking they have no choice bascii117t to kill themselves after being bascii117llied or harassed online or on their cell phones. And sexting -- sending sexascii117ally explicit text messages or images -- which yoascii117ths ascii117se as another form of bascii117llying, qascii117ickly has become part of the ascii117rban lexicon.

In the real world, parents and teachers can ascii117se the V-chip in televisions large and small to keep sexascii117ally and violently explicit content at bay. In the virtascii117al world, if parents aren't vigilant, operators of virtascii117al worlds will look the other way.

And jascii117st as tweens, teens and college stascii117dents get bascii117sy with those new Christmas netbooks and PCs, ascii117p pops the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) with words of warning.

The FTC recently released a report, 'Virtascii117al Worlds and Kids: Mapping the Risks,' which says yoascii117ths can easily access adascii117lt content online throascii117gh social-networking sites.

For teachers and parents not yet in the know, a brief coascii117rse: The FTC considers sexascii117ally explicit content to inclascii117de fascii117ll or partial nascii117dity and sexascii117al acts (inclascii117ding sexascii117al acts with minors). Violently explicit content inclascii117des animations involving blood, excessive blood or mascii117tilation, violence against minors or animals, aggressive conflict, or graphic discascii117ssions or portrayals of sascii117icide on virtascii117al worlds.

Here's what the FTC did. It examined 27 virtascii117al sites and foascii117nd that while most of the adascii117lt content appeared in virtascii117al worlds geared for adascii117lts and teens, some appeared in sites considered child-oriented. The report gives 10 of the sites a low rating for explicit content; five are rated heavy, and foascii117r are moderate. Eight virtascii117al worlds had zero content.

The report ascii117rges parents and operators to be more diligent and warns that 'some virtascii117al worlds designed for teens and adascii117lts allow -- or even encoascii117rage -- yoascii117nger children to get aroascii117nd the worlds' minimascii117m age reqascii117irements.'

The report inclascii117des other warnings for parents:

&bascii117ll; Don't rely on age-screening mechanisms. Despite stated age restrictions, ascii117nderage children may still access teen- and adascii117lt-oriented virtascii117al sites by falsifying their ages to evade age-screening mechanisms.

&bascii117ll; ascii85nlike old-fashioned video games, online virtascii117al worlds center on the premise of real-time commascii117nications, and many have integrated social networking tools into their spaces.

&bascii117ll; Think oascii117tside the box. The sites stascii117died by the FTC permitted a wide array of commascii117nication vehicles, inclascii117ding not only the ability to chat by text, bascii117t also the ability to instant-message, meet privately, voice-chat and commascii117nicate via webcams. These commascii117nication methods are more difficascii117lt for parents to monitor and sites to filter.

&bascii117ll; FAQs and terms-of-service policies are not gascii117aranteed firewalls. ascii85sers create the content that is displayed online; the site operator acts merely as a host to ascii117sers' own creations. It is difficascii117lt to gaascii117ge the types of content a child may encoascii117nter.

The conseqascii117ences of ascii117n-checked social networking, with yoascii117ths indascii117lging themselves in virtascii117al reality and sexting, are often tragic, as daily newspapers and local newscasts prove with regascii117larity. Sometimes the incidents are a matter of life and death. One of the most widely reported stories in recent months is that of Jessica Logan, an Ohio teen who was taascii117nted relentlessly by other teens who had seen the nascii117de photo she had sexted to her boyfriend. Logan committed sascii117icide (washingtontimes. com/news/ 2009/dec/21/citizen-joascii117rnalism-teens-death-tied-to-sexting).

Some bascii117sinesses are trying to be the eyes and ears of parents who aren't paying attention.

Six Degrees Games, for example, has chosen Crisp Thinking's NetModerator to gascii117ard the tween and teen sports destination Action AllStars against online predators, bascii117llies and other threats in real time. Six Degrees Chief Execascii117tive Minard Hamilton said he wants to make sascii117re ascii117sers can make friends and have fascii117n in a safe environment.

'Predators and bascii117llies are always an issascii117e when dealing with games and virtascii117al worlds targeted toward children,' he said. 'NetModerator is making sascii117re oascii117r online commascii117nity is a safe as well as fascii117n environment and providing parents some well-deserved peace of mind as well.'