A Missoulian colleague pointed me to this ABC news video about how seemingly kid-friendly Web sites, like Nickelodeon’s Nick.com, actually link to some pretty adult content. Stuff like scantily clad women doing suggestive things with their clothes, or role-playing games in which the characters make out.

The discussion that followed hit all the main points: big companies have to do better at allowing parental controls, and making it clear what content is available where, but ultimately it’s parents’ responsibility to know what their kids are getting into.

Of course, parents are busy people. Funny enough, there’s a Web site just for moms who want to keep up on this kind of stuff. It’s called Wired Moms.

I think we need all the help we can get if we want to stay one step ahead of our tech-savvy kids.

- MM